From Where You Are
by musingsandmisunderstandings
Summary: Regina Mills doesn't know who she is anymore. She knows that she should be happy because she's achieved everything she set out to do since the day that she graduated high school, but she can't help but think that she's lost herself along the way, or maybe she simply left a part of herself behind in the small town that she grew up in.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! I'm back with a new idea. We'll see how it goes.**

 **I apologize in advance for any grammatical or spelling mistakes.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or its characters.**

* * *

Regina Mills strutted into the Empire State Building, not bothering to give the dozens of voices or hurried bodies making their way in and out of the building a second glance as she walked across the lobby, nodding her head in acknowledgement to the security guard standing at his post. She quickly made her way to the elevators, pressed the button, and shuffled somewhat impatiently on her heels as she waited. She swiftly made her way inside once the doors slide open, turning to press the button that closed the doors then pressing the button that led to her offices.

She closed her eyes as she stood there, allowing herself a moment of solitude as the elevator started to ascend, preparing herself for the day. All too quickly, her moment ended as the elevator came to a halt. She took a deep breath, her signature mask of indifference immediately making an appearance as the doors slid open revealing her personal assistant, Kathryn, who stood there like she stood every morning, patiently waiting for her to arrive with a to-go cup in one hand and Regina's agenda in the other.

"Good morning, Ms. Mills." The blonde woman greeted her brightly, her crystalline eyes twinkling as she handed Regina the to-go cup she'd been holding.

"Good morning, Kathryn." Regina greeted her in return, a sincere smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she accepted her coffee. "Thank you." She said gratefully with a nod before she started walking in the direction of her office, knowing that her assistant would be quick to follow behind her diligently. The two of the made their way across the busy floor, her employees knowing all too well that they were not to interrupt her so early in the morning if they didn't have a valid reason to do so.

"Ms. Mills, I called Prime last night and I was able to make the reservation you wanted. I also took the liberty of requesting a table in the Wine Room for you because of how much you seemed to enjoy yourself the last time you were there." Kathryn told her as soon as Regina had unlocked her door and stepped inside, the blonde carefully closing the door behind them.

"That's great. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Kathryn smiled kindly. "You have a conference call with Macy's schedule for this Thursday morning at 10 o'clock. Oh, and that restaurant opening that you said you'd be attending is tonight."

Regina couldn't help but groan, not bothering to hide her displeasure as she sat down, moving the mouse around a bit to wake her computer screen. "Honestly, I'd completely forgotten about that."

"I had a feeling you'd forget."

Regina looked up, meeting Kathryn's gaze as smirked slightly. "I supposed that there's absolutely no way that my lovely assistant could help me get out of attending since she seems to know how much I'd rather not be there…" She trailed off, watching with a hint of amusement as her assistant tried, and failed, to hide a smirk of her own.

"Unfortunately, no matter how lovely your assistant is, you already had me RSVP the event for you." Kathryn reminded her. "What you didn't do was tell me if you wanted me to give you any date options for the evening."

Now, now, Ms. Midas. There's no need to make me sound so pathetic." Regina teasingly reprimanded her, laughter bubbling in her throat as she watched the other woman's eyes widen in horror. "Oh, Kathryn, relax. I'm only teasing you." She told her with a laugh. "I don't want, nor do I need a date for the evening. Oh, and please, tell Cora that she _will_ wait for me in the car." She finished in a much more serious tone.

Regina could see the apprehension in Kathryn's eyes, already knowing what the other woman was going to say before she opened her mouth to speak. "She's not going to like that."

"Unfortunately for her, she works for me." Regina told her with a firm nod of her head before she turned her attention to the computer screen, silently letting her assistant know that they were done talking about it.

* * *

"They've gotten completely out of control." Regina muttered begrudgingly to herself as she slid into the backseat of the car. She nodded her head in silent gratitude at her driver who smiled back in acknowledge before he quickly closed her door and made his way back to the driver's side of the car and getting in.

"You them a lot of money to talk positively about the brand every week. I hope you were courteous to them." Regina barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the older woman who had reprimanded her without bothering to look up from the paperwork that she had scattered across the open leather folding resting on her lap.

"I was courteous." She gritted out.

"Why didn't you bring a date to the event?"

"Why would I bother to bring a date?" We both know that you would've already taken it upon yourself to have the driver pull over and kick them out if I'd brought anyone."

"Regina." Cora sighed out in exasperation, only then bothering to meet her gaze. "We want the tabloids to think that these men are sleeping with you, they're not actually sleeping with you."

"Oh, you know damn well why none of the men I bring to these events have a chance with me, even if the men and the tabloids that write about us don't." Regina gritted out, her hands clenching into tight fists at her sides as she felt her patience run out. She met Cora's gaze head on for a few seconds before the older woman blinked and returned her attention to the paperwork in front of her.

"You've had a long day, Regina, but tomorrow is going to be even longer. You have an interview at 9 o'clock in the morning about the company, so make sure you do something with your hair." Cora told her with a tight smile. "I'll be there to make sure that everything is in order. All you'll have to do is take about your passion, your creativity, your drive, blah, blah, blah…"

"Wow, I've never heard anyone speak as beautifully about my work as you do." Regina spat out bitterly.

"In Rusty Armor is a multi-million-dollar company that you created." Regina crossed her arms defiantly over her chest as she waited for the older woman to continue. "You chose me to help you make executive decisions. It's your company, Regina. I'm just your employee."

* * *

Regina rubbed at her temples as she walked into her apartment, making a beeline for her answering machine, something that she wouldn't have even bothered to purchase if Cora hadn't insisted that she do so when she'd been handed ownership of her home. She pressed the button on the machine, crossing her arms over her chest as the automated voice began to speak. "You have thirty-seven messages." The brunette rolled her eyes, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips." She pressed another button on the machine and walked away as the automated voice started to speak again. "All messages deleted."

She made her way into her bedroom, walking straight into her closet where she removed what she'd been wearing all day and changed into something she found much more comfortable, an old jersey and a pair of gym shorts that no one who knew her in New York would possibly believe she owned.

She made her way into her kitchen afterward, pouring herself a glass of wine before she grabbed her phone from where she'd left it earlier and made her way into the living room. She grabbed one of the many remote controls that were sitting in the middle of her coffee table and proceeded to press a few buttons, sighing in contentment when the all-too-familiar sounds of a piano started flowing through her speakers. Much like any other time that she'd listened to this album, she couldn't keep her conflicting feelings at bay, but no matter how much it pained her to listen to these songs, one more than the rest, she couldn't bring herself to stop listening to it. She always found herself gravitating back to it because in a way that surely made sense to no one else but her, the dulcet tones and the images that assaulted her mind, memories, whenever she listened to it, it grounded her. Oddly enough, it kept her sane. It reminded her that everything she'd once had wasn't merely a figment of her imagination. It had been real. It had been _hers_.

Her cell phone rang about an hour or so later, interrupting her inner musing and she didn't hesitate to answer once she saw who was calling her."

"Hey Zelena, you're calling me later than usual."

 _"Yeah, I know. I should've waited until tomorrow to call you instead. I'm sorry_."

"There's no need to apologize. The time hardly matters. I'm just glad that you called me at all."

 _"You're listening to that album of yours again, aren't you?"_ Regina bit her lip, somewhat reluctant to confirm what her big sister already knew to be true. _"Regina, you know that I'm not going to judge you for doing it."_

"Zelena, what happened to me?" Regina asked, her voice hitching slightly as she did.

 _"I don't kn-"_ Regina heard her sister take a deep breath before continuing _. "What exactly do you mean?"_

"I think I've lost sight of who I am, or who I was. I don't know who I've become, or how it was that I became this person who I don't even recognize anymore."

 _"You're Regina."_

Regina couldn't contain her scoff when she heard her sister's answer. She couldn't help but resent how little comfort those words offered her. "Hardly."

 _"I can't help you find answers to the questions you're asking if you don't tell me what's going on, Regina."_

"Nothing. Nothing is going on." Regina sighed into the phone. "That's not true, but I don't know how to describe what's going on with me, or what it is I'm feeling. I- I think I'm homesick. I miss the friendships I used to have, the ones I truly believed in. I miss you too."

 _"I'm only a phone call away, Regina. You know that."_

"Yes, I do, but it's not the same, Zelena, and you know it. It's not the way it used to be, the way we used to be, and I guess..." Regina found herself hesitating to continue, but she knew that if she'd already started speaking her mind, she couldn't stop herself now. "I miss everything I had." She laughed humorlessly. "I'm sound selfish, don't I? I'm probably not even making any sense."

 _"You're making more sense than you give yourself credit for, little sister."_ Regina felt her lips twitch into a small smile at the term of endearment that Zelena so rarely used anymore. _"I'm sure that things seemed so much clearer to you, to us all, when we graduated high school. We were going to save the world, only to claim it as our own and live happily ever after. Regina..."_ Zelena stopped, a twinge of sadness in her voice as she continued. _"Are you happy?"_

"Honestly? I think that I can occasionally fool myself into believing I am." Regina answered. "But at the end of day, I know that I'm not.

 _"Okay, then let me ask you something. What do you think it's going to take for you to find your happiness, little sister? Would it be enough for you to change your surroundings? Would meeting new people make you happy? Is it more money, more power, that you're after?"_

"I already have more money than I could ever hope to spend in my lifetime, and power is not something I've ever cared about or wanted."

 _"What do you think is going to make you happy then?"_

"Love."

 _"Okay, and what are you planning to do to find that love?"_

"Zelena, I think it's time to go home."

 _"Oh, I was hoping you'd say that."_

"Really?"

 _"Yes, because lately, I've been thinking the same exact thing."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Here's the second chapter of the story! I hope it's peaked your interest so far. I don't know how often I'll be able to update, but I'll do my best to get these chapters to you guys whenever I can. My workload is usually unpredictable, but since we're nearing the holidays, things have slowed down, but they'll probably pick right back up after New Year's Day.**

 **Happy reading!**

* * *

Emma Swan walked confidently down the hallways of her old high school, taking a moment to stop and look at the glass cases that held so many reminders of what she still considered to be some of the best years of her life. She smiled to herself as she saw the picture of herself running after a soccer ball, concentration etched on her face as she prepared to make the kick that won her team their first national championship in over twenty years.

She took a deep breath as she glanced at the other objects in the cases before she continued towards one of the classrooms that she'd once spent a lot of time in as a student. She slowed down as she reached the doorway, smiling as she caught sight of a little boy sitting in one of the desks, his tongue poking out to the side in concentration as he switched crayons without looking up. "They grow up so fast."

"Auntie Emma!" The boy shouted out in excitement as soon as he heard the woman's voice. Emma laughed as she watched him hop out of his seat and rush towards her, his work quickly forgotten.

"Rolo! When did you start high school?" Emma asked him in mock-concern, her face scrunching up as she pretended to remember something from long ago. "I could've sworn it was only yesterday that you, your mommy, and I purchased everything you needed for kindergarten."

"That was yesterday, Auntie Emma." The boy said in an exasperated tone, as Emma turned to look at her sister-in-law and best friend who was sitting at the front of the classroom watching their interaction. "I'm only five."

She couldn't help but laugh as she let her fingers play with the younger boy's unruly hair. "Make sure you don't grow up too fast, buddy." She told him as she grabbed him into her arms and lifted him up, planting noisy kisses to his cheeks as he giggled and tried to push her away. She set him down carefully and watched as he ran back to his desk, sat in his chair, and picked up his crayon to continue working. "What are you drawing?"

"You can't see it yet!" He scolded her, sending a small glare her way to make sure that she didn't think about peeking at his work. "It's not ready!" He told her seriously.

"Don't worry, buddy." Emma told him gently, a small sigh escaping her lips as she rolled her eyes. "I understand that better than anyone."

"I take it you're still struggling."

"That's an understatement." Emma muttered just loudly enough for Marian to hear her. She rubbed her neck with one hand as she set the other one on her waist. "I can't even get myself to start, but I really don't want to talk about that right now. How's everything going in here? Is everything ready for the new school year?"

"Almost."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Emma asked her as she looked around, keeping an eye out for anything that was left to set up that she could take care of.

"Not really. Have you decided if you're going to take the coaching position yet?"

Emma laughed somewhat humorlessly. "There's nothing I'd love more than to coach the girls' soccer team this season, but I have a lot going on and I don't know if it'd be smart of me to add anything else to my list of Things to Do when I'm already struggling to get through the first thing on my list." She said as she scratched at the back of her head with the hand that she'd placed on her neck before letting both of her hands fall to her sides.

"Hey, you don't have to make a decision now." Marian told her as she got up and made her way around her desk to where Emma was standing. "I'm sure that you'll make the right choice for yourself when the time comes."

"I hope your right." Emma told her with a sigh. "Are you still dropping Roland off at my house this afternoon?" She asked as she shook herself out of her bad mood, smiling as she thought about another afternoon spent with the adorable little boy.

"Only if that's still okay with you."

"It's more than okay! You know how much I love spending time with my favorite nephew." Emma told her with a smile, laughing when Roland spoke.

"I'm your only nephew." He told her matter-of-factly.

Marian joined in her laughter, shaking her head as she watched her son continue to work on his drawing without giving them a second glance.

"He's such a little smart-ass." Emma muttered quietly enough so that Roland wouldn't overhear her.

"Oh, shut up." Marian said, smacking her playful in the stomach as they both laughed. "I'll take credit for him being book-smart, but as for him being a 'smart-ass,' yeah, that's from your side of the family."

"Are you calling me a smart-ass?" Emma asked as she placed her hand over her heart, a mock-wounded expression on her face.

"Well, you are rather fluent in sarcasm."

"Me? Sarcastic?" Emma asked, a mischievous grin on her face. "Never."

Marian snorted. "You're worse than Robin."

"Maybe." Emma conceded with a nod of her head. "But I'm also better looking." She said with a wink before she turned around and started walking away, laughter bubbling in her throat as she went. "I'll see you guys later!" She shouted over her shoulder as she walked out of the classroom, Marian's own laughter and Roland's goodbye following behind her.

* * *

Emma groaned as she bent down, letting her forehead rest on the keys and random notes filled the air, leaving behind a haunting sound. She'd been trying to get a start on the first song of her newest album, but any moment of inspiration she'd felt was fleeting at best and it always left her feeling frustrated with herself. "I suck." She muttered to herself as she laid her cheek on the ivory keys in defeat. She'd been at this for over an hour and she had nothing to show for it except blank sheet music.

She startled slightly when her phone rang, and she pulled herself away from her piano somewhat reluctantly, already knowing who she'd find on the other line without having to look at the screen.

"Hello?" Emma said, her hesitation making it sound more like a question than a greeting.

 _"Please, tell me you're currently working through some of the best bars you've ever written."_ The voice on the other end of the line said as soon as she'd answered.

"Heh."

 _"If not the best bars you've written, at least a bunch of passable ones?"_

"I've played a few notes…" Emma admitted somewhat reluctantly.

 _"Uh huh…"_ The voice on the other end urged her to continue with a hint of excitement in their tone.

"And then I didn't lift my forehead of the keys and they eventually stopped playing on their own."

 _"Emma."_ They sighed. _"I'm not trying to pressure you, but you're the one who put herself on a deadline, and you're the one who's struggling to meet it. If this isn't working for you, you have to let me know."_

"I'm just struggling to find my inspiration, but I don't want to move the deadline any more than I already have. You've already done too much to help me."

 _"I think you should consider setting up a meeting with the studio. You don't have to make a decision today, but-"_

"Uh, Lily?" Emma asked, holding her phone at arm's length. "I can't really hear you!"

 _"Emma? Can you hear me?"_

"I'm going through a tunnel!"

 _"Emma Swan!"_ Emma quickly hung up the phone, grimacing at the thought of how upset her producer was surely going be with her the next time that they spoke.

"Well, no time to think about my impending death now. I have an excitable five-year-old to get the house ready for." She muttered to herself as she walked out of her music room and into the living room to get everything in order before Marian came by to drop Roland off.

* * *

"Okay, mommy, I'm ready to go!" Roland shouted as he ran into the living room with his backpack shuffling on his small shoulders with every step that he took.

"Whoa, buddy, why are you in such a rush to leave?" Emma asked with a pout on her lips. "I thought we were having fun together."

"We were, Auntie Emma, but my daddy get home tomorrow morning and I want to make sure I'm asleep early."

"He's not Santa Claus, Roly." She told him, the laughter that had been bubbling in her throat finally escaping as she saw him roll his eyes at her.

"I know that, but he's bring us postcards from grandma and grandpa!" He told her as he bounced in place.

"Oh, yeah!" Emma exclaimed, genuinely matching his excitement. "Do you remember where they are now, buddy?" She asked him, turning her head slightly to smile at Marian who was standing off to the side watching their interaction with an amused smile on her face.

"Yeah, they're visiting Ireland!"

"That's right, buddy!"

"Well, my mommy and I have to go now."

"Are you sure you want to leave now?" Emma asked him as she bent down to give him a tight hug that he reciprocated wholeheartedly.

"Not really, but you should be writing music anyway."

Emma glared at Marian who had snorted as soon as she heard her son's words. "Did you put him up to this?"

"No, that one's all him." Marian told her, a proud smile on her face that had Emma's own lips quirking upward. "And he's right."

"Yeah, I know." Emma said with a sigh. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Good night, Auntie Emma! Love you!"

"Love you too, bud. Good night, Marian."

"Good night, Em."

Emma watched as they made their way to Marian's car, waiting until they'd settled themselves in and backed out of her driveway before she closed the door and made her way into her bedroom, grabbing her phone as she went.

She only allowed herself to hesitate for a few seconds before she pressed the call button. She started speaking as soon as she heard the click alerting her that the call had been answered on the other end. "Look, I know that you want to start yelling at me and you have every reason to, but I wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I know that I'm cutting it close to the deadline, and that you have people that you have to answer to, and I haven't been making it any easier on you."

 _"I remember the first time I listened to it and how excited I was to meet the creative mind behind the music."_

"Lily, I…"

 _"It's been three years, and I wouldn't be worried if I had some reassurance that you were composing, but I don't have that because you're not."_

Emma sat down on her bed feeling like the weight of the world had fallen onto her shoulders. "I know, and I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do." Her voice sounded pathetic to her own ears.

 _"Maybe you should consider accepting the coaching position that you were offered."_ Lily told her with a sigh. _"I'll talk to you tomorrow."_

"Okay." Emma said, her throat closing up as she tried to get that one word out.

 _"Good night, Emma."_

"Good night."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! I'll be returning to work on Monday, so I wanted to get another chapter posted for all now. Happy reading!**

* * *

"Okay, Mrs. Mills, I've placed your boarding pass in your bag and I sent a copy of your itinerary to your personal email." Kathryn told her as Regina took the time to look around her office, her thoughts running rampant as she thought about the conversation that she and Zelena had at the beginning of the week. They'd talked extensively over the last few days, her older putting an end to any of her doubts whenever they threatened to surface, and how here she stood. "I've taken the liberty of renting you a car because I know how much you dislike having to depend on a driver." Kathryn continued, breaking her from her inner musings as she handed Regina her bag. "If you come across any problems, don't hesitate to call me. I've given you my home number, mobile number, my parents' number-"

"Kathryn, breathe. I can't thank you enough for taking care of everything for me." Regina said as she took a hold of her assistant's hands in her own, gripping them reassuringly as a small smile pulled at her lips. "You're a wonderful assistant, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." Kathryn answered her with a smile and an affirmative nod.

"Ugh." Regina rolled her eyes playfully. "I've asked you a million times to stop referring to me that way, yet here we are."

"I'm really sorry." Her assistant laughed lightly.

"It's a habit. I know." Regina laughed. "We're the same age, Kathryn." She reminded the other woman as she readjusted her bag on her shoulders and made her way towards the door. "I'll see you soon."

"I'll see you soon, Mrs. Mills."

"I think it's time you start referring to me as Regina." She told the other woman as she walked out of her office, not bothering to look behind her as she made her way to the elevators feeling lighter than she had in a long time.

* * *

Regina sat somewhat impatiently in her seat, watching as the other passengers made their way onto the plane and down the aisle. She was nervous, that much was obvious by the light tapping of her fingers on the armrests of her seat, but she couldn't pinpoint why exactly it was she was nervous. She'd flown before, frequently in fact, so she knew it had nothing to do with that.

"I can hear the cogs turning in your head already and I haven't even sat down yet." An all-too-familiar voice said, putting an abrupt end to her thoughts.

"Zelena?" Regina asked in confusion as she watched her the redheaded woman pull her carry-on bag up and over her head, placing it in the overhead bin before she took her seat beside her without offering much more than a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, like everyone on this flight, I'm getting ready to spend an hour on a flight to Maine instead of driving there."

"That's not what I meant." Regina muttered out as the stewardesses started their before flight routines.

"Oh, of course it's not, Regina." Zelena told her with a small laugh. "I told you that I was going to Maine too, or did you forget?"

"No, I didn't forget, but I wasn't expecting to see you on my flight since you were supposed to be flying in from California." She told her as she snapped her seatbelt into place and shuffled around to make herself comfortable, knowing that it wouldn't be long before the chosen stewardesses would make their way into the middle of the isles so that they could go over safety procedures while the airplane was guided onto the runway.

"You didn't think I'd leave you to drive to Portland by yourself, did you?" Zelena asked in what Regina assumed to be mock-offense. "I told you that we were going to do this together, Regina, and I meant it."

 _Okay, maybe it wasn't mock-offense_. Regina thought to herself guilty. "I didn't mean to make it seem like I didn't believe that you were being honest with me, Zelena." Regina whispered quietly as the stewardesses began their demonstration. "I guess I just wasn't expecting you to take it all so literally."

"We'll talk more about this once we're in the air and I've gotten the chance to order myself a drink." Zelena whispered back.

"We're not even going to be in the air two hours!" Regina whisper shouted, not missing the smirk on her older sister's face at the incredulity in her voice, nor the look on the stewardess' face as she tried to keep herself focused on her task instead of directing her attention to the two bickering sisters sitting in the first-class cabin.

* * *

"Is it safe to assume that Cora has no idea that you've hauled ass yet?" Zelena asked as she took a sip of her scotch.

"She has no idea." Regina muttered as she closed her eyes, taking a moment to gather herself as she allowed her head to fall back against her headrest.

"So, where does she think you're going?" Zelena asked, not bothering to pause long enough to allow Regina to answer before she continued. "Surely, she's not going to be satisfied with you simply calling out sick for a few weeks."

"Therein lies the beauty of being the boss." Regina said with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Oh, Regina, if only that were true." Zelena sighed out, causing Regina's eyebrows to furrow in confusion. "I love you, you know I do, but no matter how many times you try to convince yourself that you're in charge of your company, Cora has her claws in you so deep for so long that she's not going to simply let sleeping dogs lie." Zelena offered her an apologetic smile. "Now, what does our dear mother think you're up to right now?"

Regina sighed, barely resisting the urge to start tapping her fingertips against her arm rests again. "She thinks I'm on my way to Versailles to consider potential prospects for company expansion."

"And how exactly did you pull that off?" Zelena asked in an obviously impressed tone.

"I didn't. Kathryn did."

"Of course, she did. Your personal assistant works wonders and mother still has the audacity to underestimate her."

Regina simply nodded her head in agreement, anxiety bubbling in her stomach as the captain's voice came over the speakers to announced that they'd be descending into Portland in the next few minutes.

* * *

Regina and Zelena had gotten off their flight, picked up their bags from baggage claim, and gotten their rental car in record time thanks to Kathryn's meticulous work. Now, they were driving out of Portland and about two hours away from their hometown and Regina couldn't help the sporadic tightening of her hands on the steering wheel as she felt her nerves growing. It had been years since she'd set foot in Storybrooke, Maine and even though she'd missed the small town, there were things, people, within the town that she'd missed so much more.

"What are you thinking about?" Zelena broke her sister's concentration, genuine concern on her face as she looked at Regina's whitening knuckles on steering wheel and the telling vein on her forehead.

"Nothing."

"If that's how you look when you're not thinking about anything, I'm genuinely worried about what happens when you've actually got something on your mind." Zelena retorted.

"I'm just thinking." Regina sighed out, not really wanting to vocalize the thoughts that had taken up residence in her mind.

"That much is obvious, little sister."

"I'm just thinking about how much could've possibly changed in the time that we've been away." Regina started, knowing that she wouldn't get anywhere if she continued to evade Zelena's attempts to get her to talk about what was bothering her, but the problem was that she couldn't pinpoint for herself what had caused such a shift in her mood.

The excitement that she'd felt as she'd walked out of her office earlier that morning had all but dissipated, and now she was left with a feeling that she could only describe as reluctance. "I left right after I graduated high school, Zelena, much like you did, and I promised my friends that I would keep in touch with everyone, but within a year or two, I broke that promise and I didn't do anything to mend my mistakes." She continued, knowing her sister had no intention of interrupting her as she got her thoughts out. "I haven't even bothered to call my godson's parents to see how he's doing! I mean, I remember how excited I was when they asked me to be a part of their child's life, but then I disappeared within months of his birth. I don't even know what he looks like!" Regina's voice rose an octave as she spoke, and she couldn't help but think about how out of control she felt in that moment.

"Regina, stop." Zelena spoke gently. "You're letting your nerves get the better of you. Yes, you've been gone a long time, longer than you expected, but you're not the only one who has ever left their hometown and lost touch." Regina took a deep breath, keeping her eyes on the road as she allowed herself to think about what her sister had said. No matter how much she hated to admit it, Zelena was right. She'd allowed herself to overthink everything and she'd started to panic.

"I'm going to hate myself for admitting this, but you're right."

"Am I?" Zelena asked with a hint of mischief in her tone. "Look, Regina, you're not walking into this alone, you have me, so just breathe. Everything is going to be okay."

Regina took a deep breath and allowed herself to be comforted by her older sister's words as she carefully switched lanes, shifting the car into the right lane, the exit that they needed to take to get off the highway less than two miles away.

* * *

Regina and Zelena had really spoken much to each other as they drove by the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign, it was obvious in that moment that Regina wasn't the only Mills sister who was lost in their thoughts.

They drove into the parking lot of their hotel, made their way inside, spoke to the receptionist who gave them each a key to their respective rooms, and they said their goodbyes, promising to meet each other in the hotel's restaurant for breakfast the following morning.

Regina sighed as the door clicked shut behind her, deciding that she'd worry about unpacking her bags in the morning and only opening her large suitcase long enough to pull out a pair of black flats.

She sat on her bed as she removed the heels that'd she'd been wearing all day, sighing in relief as she wiggled her toes before she slipped on her flats.

She sent a text message to Kathryn, letting her know that she'd arrived in Storybrooke and thanking her once again for taking care of everything for her, then proceeded to send one to Zelena letting her know that she was going on a walk before she grabbed her room key, slipping it into the back-pocket of her slacks as she walked out of her hotel room.

* * *

Regina couldn't help but smile as she looked at her surroundings. It had been over five years since she'd graduated from Storybrooke High School, and yet her she was making her way to the soccer field once again, like no time at all had passed. She reveled in the familiarity she felt in that moment and she couldn't keep herself from falling back into memories of all the time she'd once spent where she now stood.

She took a deep breath as she looked up to see the light posts illuminated the field, her eyebrows furrowed as she heard the rusting of a ball on the grass, and she felt her heart skip a beat as she walked onto the field, her legs automatically carrying her to where an all-too-familiar blonde was dribbling a ball, the woman's leg pulling back as she took her shot. The woman's name left her lips before she even realized that she'd spoken.

"Emma."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hey, everybody! I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to update this story, but life happens. I'm going to try to update again soon, but unfortunately, I can't make any promises. Happy reading!**

* * *

Emma had really tried, but after an hour of mindless sitting in front of her baby grand piano, she'd called it quits, closed to lid and walked out of her music room. She'd changed into her gym shorts, and pulled a t-shirt with the Knights emblem across the chest over the sports bra she was wearing before grabbing a gym bag that held cleats, socks, shin guards, and a towel and pulling the strap over her shoulder before she grabbed a few bottles of water from her refrigerator and walked out of her house, determined to work herself out of her creative block.

She drove to her old high school, not hesitating to make her way to the soccer field that she'd spent most of her teenaged years on as she discarded her gym bag on the bench and kicked her ball into the middle of the field. She took a lap around the soccer field before taking to dribbling the ball around the field, shooting it from different angles towards the goal, and fishing the ball out only to start over.

Emma had been at it for over half an hour, and she lifted her leg to kick the ball and attempt to make another shot when she heard her name uttered by a voice that she hadn't head outside of the confines of her mind in years. She hit the ball with more momentum than she'd originally intended, and she stood there, frozen, watching as the ball sailed over the net. " _If_ _ **she**_ _hadn't interrupted me, I would've made the shot without question._ " She thought to herself.

She could feel a pair of eyes on her and she could easily picture the look on the other woman's face as she burned a hole into the back of her head, but she couldn't bring herself to turn around and meet her gaze. Instead, she brought her hands to her hips and started walking around in circles, regulating her breathing as she pointedly avoided the mocha-colored eyes that she'd knew were watching her as she paced.

Emma didn't know what she wanted, part of her wanted to turn around and find that she'd only imagined the all-too-familiar voice calling her name, but the other part of her, wanted to look in to the eyes of the woman that she hadn't seen in three years, seven months, and twenty-three days. " _Not that I've been keeping track or anything._ " She thought pathetically.

"Regina." Emma started, her throat tightening slightly as she spoke the other woman's name, not letting it show outwardly as she continued. "It's been a while since we last spoke."

"It's been longer than that, Emma." Regina responded, her arms wrapping around her stomach as she spoke, a gesture that the blonde knew how to read all too well.

"Yeah." Emma responded with a nod, her heart racing inside of her chest. She took a deep breath. She felt off quilter with the other woman's unexpected presence. She clenched her jaw at the thought, her gaze hardening as she gave herself a moment to take in the other woman's appearance. " _She looks as beautiful as she did the last time I saw her, maybe more so._ " She thought somewhat begrudgingly to herself.

"Emma, I'm glad that you're here-" Regina started as she took a step towards her, stopping when she saw that Emma took a step back to keep the distance between them.

"Regina, don't." The blonde said sternly as she lifted her hand to reinforce the distance between them. "You can't. I'm dating someone." She took a deep breath, taking a moment to strengthen her resolve before she continued. "I have a girlfriend." She watched as Regina's schooled her features, a myriad of emotions in her eyes that she couldn't hide. She was torn between wanting to comfort the distraught brunette and wanting to laugh at the sheer absurdity of the situation. " _She doesn't get to react this way, not after everything that happened_."

"Oh." Regina breathed out.

"Yeah." Emma agreed as she reached up and rubbed at the tension she felt in her neck. "Look, don't get me wrong, Regina. It was good to see you again. You- uh, you look good, but it's time I head home, so I'm going to go now." She said before she started walking off the soccer field, turning back when she realized that her ball was still behind the goal. She jogged back to the ball, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment as she dribbled it back to the bench where her gym bag was sitting, not turning to look back at Regina as she pulled the strap over her shoulder and walked off the field and towards her trusty yellow bug.

Regina watched helplessly as Emma walked off the soccer field and away from her, the blonde's words were still playing in a loop in her head, and she hugged herself a little tighter as she thought about the lukewarm welcome that she'd received. She shouldn't have been surprised by Emma's reaction, nor should she have been surprised to learn that the other woman had moved on while she was away, but she was. She'd foolishly allowed herself to hope that she'd simply come back to Storybrooke and the two of them would simply pick up where they'd once left off. She should've known it wouldn't be that easy, but she'd selfishly ignored what she'd already suspected to be true.

Not only had her ex-girlfriend gotten more beautiful during their time apart, but she'd found herself someone who she cared about enough to start a relationship with, and while Regina knew that she was being irrational. She knew that she didn't have a right to be bitter about the situation, but she couldn't quite stop herself.

Regina sighed as she dropped her arms to her sides and followed the path that Emma had taken to get back to the front of the high school. She grimaced to herself as she thought about the conversation that she knew she wouldn't be able to avoid having with her older sister once she made her way back to the hotel, but it was a necessary evil. Zelena hadn't hesitated to follow Regina home, and she deserved to know what, or who, had played the largest part in her decision to come back.

Regina had barely taken two steps into her hotel room when Zelena's voice startled her out of her thoughts.

"I was wondering when you'd be getting back." Zelena told her conversationally as she grabbed a piece of cheese from the assorted platter that was sitting on Regina's bed and popped it into her mouth.

"How did you get in here?" Regina asked her, a hint of irritation in her voice as her older sister simply shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly in response. She rolled her eyes. "You charged that platter to my room, didn't you?"

"Yep." Zelena answered her, popping the 'p.' "Oh, and I ordered us a bottle of wine too."

"Zelena!"

"What?" Zelena asked, somewhat affronted. "It's not like either of us really has to worry about money." She rolled her eyes as Regina glared at her. "Oh, come on, Reggie. I thought you might need it, and judging by your expression, I was right."

Regina scoffed as she started making her way around the room, changing into her pajamas and allowing herself to get more comfortable. She knew that her older sister wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, so she simply allowed her to sit on her bed as she occasionally popped another piece of food into her mouth from the assorted platter, the television set in the middle of the room providing them with background noise.

Once Regina was ready, Zelena wordlessly offered her a glass of wine. The brunette took the offered glass without hesitation, taking a large gulp of wine and finding herself wishing that her older sister had thought to order them something stronger.

"You saw Emma, didn't you?" Zelena asked her somewhat cautiously, already knowing what her little sister's answer would be as she watched her pace in front of her.

"Yes, I did."

"How did that go?"

"She has a girlfriend." Regina muttered out just loudly enough for Zelena to hear her before she lifted her glass and drained the rest of the wine in it.

"Oh."

"Yeah, that's exactly how I reacted." She told her with a humorless laugh.

"Well, what are you going to do?" Zelena asked.

Regina couldn't help but scoff at her sister's question. "What am I supposed to do, Lena?"

"Follow your heart." Zelena answered her with a shrug of her shoulders.

"What does that even mean?!" Regina exclaimed, her glass of wine clinking against the surface of the nightstand as she roughly set it down.

"You're still in love with Emma Swan, are you not?"

Regina crossed her arms over her chest, reminding Zelena of the petulant toddler that her little sister once was as she started pacing once again. "Yes, I'm still in love with her, but obviously, she's not in love with me anymore, and after what I did, I can't say I blame her."

"It was never your intention to hurt her, Regina." The redhead reminded her like she'd reminded her many times before.

"I know, but I still broke her heart, and knowing that breaks mine."

Emma bit back a groan as she tilted her head back, allowing it to land with a thud on her seat's headrest. She didn't know how much time she'd been sitting parked in front of her house, her trusty bug turned off with the key still in the ignition, but she hadn't gotten any closer to gathering her scrambling thoughts than she'd been as she walked off of her old high school's campus and practically jogged to her car in her rush to get out of there.

She sighed deeply, knowing that she had to get herself out of her car and into her house. "I smell like ass." She muttered out loud, a part of her was upset that her ex-girlfriend had seen like that, but the other part remembered all too well how the brunette woman had enjoyed the sight of the blonde after a game. She growled as she pushed the driver's side door open and grabbed her gym bag before stepping out of the vehicle, wincing slightly when car door slammed behind her.

She walked onto her porch, her keys swinging in her hand as she tried to get herself to relax. "Take a deep breath, Emma." She mumbled to herself, knowing that the realization that Regina Mills still affected her in such a way wouldn't allow her to relax anytime soon.

"Hey, baby!" Emma heard the moment she walked into her house. She made her way to her bedroom, discarding her gym bag and shoes in the living room as she went. "I should've known that you'd be out on the field the moment I realized you weren't home."

Emma couldn't contain her grin as she looked at her girlfriend who was sitting comfortably on her bed, her thoughts of Regina fading quickly to the background as she took in the smile playing on the other woman's lips. "Come here." She said as she extended her arms at her sides and walked up to Lily, not hesitating to pull her into a tight hug, not caring at all about drenching her in sweat.

"I'm sorry about how I spoke to you earlier. The company's been putting a lot of pressure on me lately, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you. They're getting impatient, and they're threatening to keep me in New York if I can't get you on track with your album." Lily explained as she hugged Emma back just as tightly, a light laugh escaping her lips when the blonde started planting gentle kisses along her neck and jawline.

"You don't have to apologize to me, Lil." Emma told her as she slowly separated herself from the other woman. She pulled her drenched t-shirt over her head as she continued. "I know that you're only trying to help me."

"Hmmm, and you're obviously trying to distract me." Lily said, biting her lip as her eyes drifted over Emma's toned stomach and muscular arms.

"Well, is it working?" Emma asked her with a knowing smirk tugging at her pale lips.

"Too well."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hey, everybody! Quick reminder, this is a Swan Queen story, but unlike Dare Night, there's angst. Happy reading!**

* * *

Zelena rolled her eyes, a fond smile tugging on her lips as she walked past a yellow Volkswagen bug that she'd known all too well in her teenage years. She'd caught Emma and Regina making out in it more than enough times and she couldn't help but be a little thrown off by the clarity of the car's windows.

She quickly made her way up the pathway to a beautiful brick house, the house the blonde woman she'd come to visit had grown up in, and stopped only long enough to grab the spare key that she'd known would be hidden under the doormat before she placed the key into the lock, turned it, and walked in like she belonged there, much like she always had. She was stopped in her tracks by a woman's voice that she didn't recognize.

"Uh, can I help you?" The unfamiliar woman asked. Zelena looked up to meet a pair of brown eyes, almost black in their darkness.

"Yes, yes you can." Zelena answered her without missing a beat as she smiled widely. "I'm looking for Emma Swan."

"Oh, okay! She's jogging right now, but- wait. I'm sorry, but who are you?" The woman asked, a look of utter confusion on her face as she took in the redheaded woman's appearance. She couldn't understand why the other woman had walked into her girlfriend's house with so much familiarity.

"Oh, right! I'm sorry!" Zelena exclaimed, shaking her head as a light laugh escaped her lips. She extended her hand out to the other woman. "Hi, my name is-"

The door opened behind Zelena, revealing a panting Emma Swan in a sports bra, matching shorts, and a pair of running shoes. The blond stopped in her tracks, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to catch her breath. "Zelena Mills, as I live and struggle for breath!" She exclaimed once she saw who was standing in her house.

Zelena laughed, ignoring the way that Emma's eyes momentarily roamed around her living room as if looking for someone who they both knew the blonde would never admit to wanting there, especially not with her girlfriend in the same room. "Emma Swan, I've missed you!"

Emma couldn't help but laugh along, guilt building up in her chest at the realization that the brunette standing in her living room wasn't Regina Mills. "I've missed you too, Zee. Very much." She said as she walked up to the other woman and pulled her into a tight hug, not caring about her sweat covered body.

"Ew. Emma, you need to go take a shower." Zelena exclaimed in mock-disgust, amusement shining in her eyes as she heard the blonde's laughter. "Oh, and you rudely interrupted me while I was trying to introduce myself to the lovely lady."

"Oh, shit!" She exclaimed as she stepped out of their embrace and put herself in between Zelena and Lily. "Lil, this is Zelena Mills. Zee, this lovely lady as you called her, is my girlfriend, Lilith Page."

"It's nice to finally meet you! Emma has told me so much about you!" Lily exclaimed with a genuine smile on her face as she extended her hand out for Zelena to shake. "Please, call me 'Lily.'"

"It's nice to meet you too!" Zelena told her as she shook her hand. "How often have you talked about me, Swan?" She asked with a teasing smirk on her lips, laughing when the blonde woman simply rolled her eyes. "I'm flattered."

"Of course, you are." Emma scoffed out, a smirk of her own tugging on her lips. "I'm going to take a shower now, but you're more than welcome to join us for breakfast, if you want."

"I'd love to."

* * *

"Okay, I come baring gifts!" Zelena yelled out as she barged into her little sister's hotel room with a plastic container in her hands, pointedly ignoring the annoyed groan that came from the lump on the brunette's bed in response. "Hungover? I think you're losing your touch, Reggie." She continued with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Shut up!" Regina muttered as she pulled her blanket tighter around herself.

"Oh, come on!" Zelena asked as she nudged her way onto the corner of her sister's bed.

"Zelena, just give me whatever it is you're going to give me so that I can go back to sleep." Regina groaned out in irritation.

"Okay, okay. I brought you breakfast!" Zelena exclaimed as she shoved the container that she'd been holding into Regina's blanket covered face.

"Seriously, Zelena?" Regina muttered out before she uncovered her face to glare at the redhead.

"It's one of your favorites!" Zelena exclaimed with a bright smile on her face. "And, it's homemade!"

"It's homemade?" Regina asked as she pushed the covers off herself, almost knocking Zelena down in the process. She eyed the contents of the container, her stomach growling at the sight of a fluffy omelet. "Who made it?"

"Emma Swan, of course!" Zelena told her matter-of-factly.

"Emma?" Regina asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Yep!" Zelena said with an affirmative nod, as she pulled plastic silverware out of her back-pocket and handed it to her little sister who was busy opening the container and smelling its contents. "It smells delicious, doesn't it?" The brunette simply nodded her head as she grabbed the silverware and dug into her omelet. "Oh, and I met Lily too."

"Who?" Regina asked between bites, not paying too much attention as she ate.

"Emma's girlfriend." Zelena answered her, watching carefully as her sister suddenly struggled to swallow what she'd been chewing while trying to appear unaffected by her words.

"Oh." She sighed out as she looked down at what remained of what Emma had made her, what she'd eaten sitting heavily in her stomach as she struggled to keep her emotions at bay.

"Yeah." Zelena started, knowing that while her sister could pretend all she wanted that she wasn't bothered by whatever her sister told her, her eyes would surely tell a different story. "I showed up at Emma's house this morning to surprise her, but she wasn't there. Lily was. We didn't really get a chance to introduce ourselves before Emma jogged into her house all sweaty and out of breath, but Emma invited me to join them for breakfast and we all gathered around the kitchen and caught up after Emma took a shower. As much as I hate to admit it, Lily seems pretty great."

"That's good, Lena. I'm glad." Regina said as she placed the container on her nightstand and turned to look at her sister.

"Are you really?" Zelena asked somewhat incredulously.

"Look, Zelena. Emma and I broke up over three years ago, she has every right to move on with her life. If she's in a new relationship, and she's happy, that's all that matters." Regina told her sincerely. "I've already told you that I didn't return home to get Emma back."

"Reggie, I know that's what you said, but you saying something doesn't necessarily make it true." Zelena put a hand up to stop the brunette from interrupting her. "I'm not going to push you to talk about anything, but I'm not going to lie to you, I really wish you'd tell me what exactly happened between you and Emma."

"What does she look like?" Regina asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to remember the physical appearance of a woman who she'd briefly seen over two years ago.

Uh, she's a little bit shorter than Emma by an inch or two." Zelena started answering, confusion etched on her face at her sister's question. "She's Latina." She didn't know what it was Regina wanted her to say, so she stopped and looked at Regina. "Why?"

"Your description of her isn't that great, but I think I might've seen her once before." Regina answered as she looked up and met her sister's gaze.

"Seriously?" Zelena asked, her voice hitching slightly. "Where? When?!"

* * *

 _Regina hadn't been able to bring herself to answer the phone when Emma's name had flashed on her phone's screen. Instead, she'd let the other woman's call go to voicemail. She'd been half-expecting Emma to hang up without leaving her a voice message, but she hadn't done that, and two days later the brunette had listened to Emma's message over a dozen times since she'd left it two days before._

 _The two of them had broken up six months ago, but the pain Regina felt in her heart hadn't subsided at all since the night they'd said goodbye. The blonde's voice and the nerves seeping out of every word she'd spoken had had a calming effect on Regina, filling her up with warmth, and as hesitant as she'd been to admit it to herself, she'd felt hopeful._

 _"_ Hey, Regina. _" The message had started up again as Regina once again lost the battle against herself to not play it again. "_ I- uh. Here's the thing, I'm going to be performing in New York this Friday night, and I'd like to invite you to attend my concert. _" There was a pause on the line at that point, and Regina could easily picture the blonde pacing back and forth as she gathered herself up enough to continue. "_ I- uh, I know that we haven't since- in a while, but- Regina, I wouldn't even be performing this weekend if you hadn't continuously encouraged me like you did. _" Emma could be heard taking a deep breath before she continued. "_ Well, anyway, I'll leave a ticket at the box office for you. I hope to see you there. _"_

 _Regina had known before the voice message had ended the first time she heard it that she would be going to Emma's performance. No matter how nervous she'd felt at the idea of seeing the other woman again after things had ended between the two of them, she couldn't not go if Emma had asked her to._

 _That Friday night, Regina had arrived at the venue earlier than she'd intended to, chalking it up to a combination of her nerves and the overwhelming desire she had to see her ex-girlfriend again. She'd caught sight of Emma stepping out of a sleek car, the sight of luscious blonde curls and green sparkling eyes were more than enough to make her heart stop, but that hadn't been what took her breath away._

 _She'd lost her confidence the moment that she caught sight of Emma helping another woman out of the car. It was a woman that she'd never seen before, and she'd felt the jealousy and the sense of loss in her heart the moment that she saw her ex-girlfriend flash the unfamiliar woman a bright smile. They'd looked far too familiar with each other for Regina to brush it off, and she'd wanted to do nothing more in that moment than to run, but she'd stayed._

 _She'd purchased a ticket at the box office, leaving the ticket that Emma had left for her untouched, and she'd watched the woman she loved perform. She'd allowed herself to be captivated by how Emma's fingers glided over the keys, telling stories of love, heartbreak, loss, sadness, and happiness without a single word being said. This is what Emma deserved, recognition for the beautiful music that she'd worked so hard to create, and Regina was beside herself with happiness as she watched. She might've lost her place in this brilliant woman's heart, but Emma had captivated the hearts of every single one of the people in her audience._

 _When the blonde's performance had ended, she'd watched Emma walk off the stage with a smile on her face and tears of pride in her eyes. And when the lights had been turned on in the auditorium, she'd gotten up and walked out with the rest of the audience, her smile widening more as she heard them talk about how beautiful Emma's music had been, and how they couldn't wait to buy her album._

 _She'd pulled out her phone as she'd hailed a cab, opening the blonde's album in her library, plugging her headphones, and slipping the buds into her ears before the cab had come to a complete stop in front of her._


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Hey, everybody! I've had a lot going on lately, so I haven't been able to update as much as I'd like to, but I'm trying. I appreciate all of the favorites, follows, and reviews. Thank you! I'll leave you to it. Happy reading!**

* * *

"Wait, they're both back?!" Marian asked, her voice raising a few octaves higher as she did so.

"Ow." Emma couldn't help but mutter into the phone as she winced. "Yeah, they're b- both back." She stuttered out, rolling her eyes at her inability to keep her own voice under control.

"Why do you sound so sure about that?" Marian asked her as she started pacing around in her kitchen, only stopping when she realized that her son was watching her attentively as he sat at the kitchen island, his head swaying slightly from side to side as his eyes followed her movements. "Wait, don't answer that. I'm going to go drop Roland off at Robin's house because he's spending the day with him. Do you want to meet so that we can talk privately?"

"Uh, yeah. That sounds good. You know where I'll be." Emma told her a she rubbed subconsciously at her neck. She couldn't keep her mind from drifting, wondering what their impending conversation would reveal. "I'll bring coffee."

"Ooh, yes, thank you! I'll have a White Chocolate Mocha latte." Marian told her as she gathered what remained of her son's breakfast, silently gesturing for him to go brush his teeth after she'd left his empty plate in the sink. "Oh, and could you get me a-"

"Bacon and Gouda sandwich. Sure thing." Emma interrupted her, a small grin appearing on her face when she heard Marian's answering laugh on the other end of the line. "I'll see you in an hour or so, Marian."

"Okay, I'll see you soon, Emma." Marian said she hung up the phone. "Hurry up, Roland!" She called up the stairs as she gathered her son's things as well as her own, rolling her eyes when she heard him stampeding down the stairs. "What've I told you about running in the house, young man?" She asked him, biting back a smile when she saw his eyes drop to the ground in guilt.

"Only do it at my daddy's house?" He asked.

"Exactly." Marian told him with an affirmative nod as she handed him his small gym bag. "Your daddy's going to take you to your soccer game, okay?"

"You're going to go too, right?" He asked as they made their way out of the house, stopping at Marian's side as she locked the door before they walked down the pathway to her White 2015 Ford Focus.

"Absolutely." She told him as she helped him settle into his seat.

"Aunt Emma too?" He as he clicked his seatbelt into place.

"Are you serious?" She asked, gasping in mock-astonishment. "She wouldn't miss it for anything in the world."

"Good."

* * *

"Hey, baby, where are you?"

Emma startled slightly at her girlfriend's voice, her thoughts still a whirlwind in her mind as she found herself once again thinking about her ex-girlfriend. "I'm in the kitchen!" She told her as she shook herself out of her musings.

"Emma, I just got off the phone with the label." Lily told her as she walked into the kitchen, a sigh escaping her lips, the phone called she'd received while she was getting dressed had left her feeling annoyed, but she didn't want to let onto it if she could help it. "I'll be flying back to New York next Monday."

"I've gotten you in trouble again, haven't I?" Emma asked, her eyes roaming over her girlfriend and taking in the obvious tension in the other woman's shoulders that hadn't been there before she'd gone to get ready for her day.

"I'm not in trouble. Even if I were, we both know that I'm more than capable of getting myself into trouble without you." Lily told her, a small smirk on her lips as she thought about how childish her girlfriend looked with that all-too-familiar pout on her lips. "Put that pout away. It's dangerous." She said, crossing her arms over her chest as she tried and failed to appear stern.

"Fine." The blonde huffed, a teasing smile on her lips. "Do you know how long they're going to keep you this time?" She asked as she pulled the other woman into her lap.

"No, I don't, but I doubt I'll be there for more than a few days. Maybe a week." She answered, her arms wrapping themselves over the blonde's shoulders.

"I guess that's not too bad, but that doesn't mean I'm going to miss you any less." Emma told her as tilted her head up slightly so that their lips could meet in a chaste kiss.

"Well, we'll just have to make the best of the next few days then." Lily told her with a smirk on her lips.

"Oh, absolutely, but-"

"But?" Lily asked.

"I already promised Marian that I'd meet her after she drops Roland off at my brother's house for the day, so you know, we won't be able to start making the best of the next few days until later." Emma answered sheepishly.

"Oh, okay." Lily told her, smiling at her before she looked up to see the time on the clock hanging on the wall about the sink. "You should probably get moving."

"Yeah, I guess…" Emma sighed out. "…or, I could stay a little while longer. I'm sure Marian would understand."

"I'm sure she would." Lily answered her with a laugh. "But that doesn't mean she should have to." She said kissing the blonde quickly before she slid off her lap. I'll be here getting some work done. I'll drive myself to Roland's game later that way you don't have to worry about it." She walked up to Emma and pulled her out of her chair and pushed her out of the kitchen. "I love you. Now, go."

Emma couldn't help but laugh as she grabbed her keys. "Love you too." She said as she grabbed her keys and made her way outside, her mind still swimming as she got in her car and make her way to the coffee shop.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Marian asked Emma as soon as the other woman was within earshot. She silently accepted the hot beverage and wrapped sandwich the she was handed as the two of them made their way to the bleachers so that they could sit down.

"Honestly, I don't know how I'm feeling." Emma sighed out once they'd gotten themselves settled, their sandwiches unwrapped and their drinks cooling in their spots between them. "How am I supposed to feel?" She asked rhetorically. "I mean, it hasn't even been twenty-four hours since I saw Regina. I guess I haven't really given my mind a chance to process the reality of the situation yet." She said, keeping her gaze on her hands that rested idly on her lap.

"Did you get a chance to talk to her?"

Emma let out a humorless laugh, and Marian couldn't help but think about how troubled the blonde looked in that moment. It had been a while since the last time she'd seen the other woman so close to unraveling. "No, I didn't give her much of a chance to speak." Emma told her, shaking her head at herself as she continued. "I'd already convinced myself that I wouldn't see her again, but then I'm not only hearing her voice again, but I'm meeting her gaze with my own and-" Emma rambled, her emotions starting to get the better of her as she thought about how quickly her ex-girlfriend's reappearance had impacted her. "I ran, Marian." She whispered, reluctant to admit it.

"Emma, I would've most likely done the same thing if I were you." Marian told her, trying to reassure her.

"Yeah, maybe." The blonde mumbled out.

Marian knew better by now than to try to push the blonde to keep talking, so instead she unwrapped her sandwich and ate quietly, taking sips of her latte as she watched Emma do the same and they continued to sit in silence until Emma's voice startled her out of her own thoughts.

"Do you- do you remember my first concert?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, of course I do." Marian answered. "It was in New York."

"Yeah, uh, I never got around to telling you this- not because I didn't trust you with it, or anything, but because I wanted to forget that it happened and I really didn't want to put you in the middle of myself and Regina -Lily was the one who pushed the record label into scheduling my first concert of the tour there." She started explaining, feeling guilty that she had waited so long to share this with Marian. "I'd started opening up to Lily about Regina because she'd wanted to know what, or who, my muse was when I'd started composing and so she knew about how much Regina meant to me and how much she'd played a part in my writing. Lily admitted to me that she wanted to help Regina and I get back together and she eventually convinced me to have the box office reserve a ticket for her. She encouraged me to call her when she saw me thinking about chickening out too. "Emma sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she pushed herself to continue. "Regina didn't answer when I called, so I left her a voice message before I could convince myself to back out. I- I told her how much it would mean to me if she went and all. She didn't call me back. She didn't show up on the night of the concert. I went to the box office afterward and asked the attendant if Regina might've stopped by to pick up her ticket, but the woman sympathetically shook her head like she knew how much my heart was breaking."

"Em-" Marian started to say, only to be interrupted by the blonde as she continued as if she hadn't heard her speak up.

"Hell, I still don't know if she even listened to the voice message I left her. Maybe she deleted it without bothering to listen to it once she realized that I'd been the one who called her."

"I know that talking to her is probably the last thing you want to do right now, but-"

"I'm going to have to, aren't I?" Emma asked, her stomach dropping as she interrupted her."

"Well, yeah." Marian started. "Emma, you've told me numerous times that you've moved on, and I believe you, but how much could you have really moved on if you're not willing to have a long overdue conversation with your ex-girlfriend?"

"I'm happy, Marian. I don't want to ruin what I have." Emma couldn't help but argue.

"If you're happy now, then talking to Regina isn't going to change that." Marian told her. "Unless, you're hesitant to talk to her because you think doing so could change that…"

"I'll talk to her." Emma begrudgingly said. "I know we still have a lot to talk about because I'm not the only one with an ex-girlfriend back in-"

"Zelena is not my ex-girlfriend!" Marian exclaimed.

"Yeah, whatever you say." Emma muttered out, rubbing her arm after Marian slapped her in her outrage. "We're still talking about that later by the way, but anyway, Lily has to go back to New York next week."

"Didn't she just get back to Storybrooke last night?"

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that the label only let her come back here so quickly because they're expecting her to handle my writer's block."

"How long will she be staying in New York this time?"

"She told me that she didn't think she'd be there longer than a week. They'll probably be asking her to give them another status report, not that much if anything has changed since the last one she gave them less than a week ago, but they're probably as sick of the video conferences as she is." Emma sighed out. She'd had a restless night between her anger at her inability to get her writer's block under control and how badly it had gotten, to her ex-girlfriend's sudden reappearance in town, to the guilt that plagued her whenever her thoughts strayed to Regina while Lily slept peacefully in her arms. Her mind had gone into overdrive when she'd walked into her house to see Zelena standing in her living room.

"You'll shake yourself out of your rut soon enough, Emma." Marian calmly reassured her, knowing that what was really weighing on the blonde was her inability to write.

"You've been telling me the same thing for months, Marian. Longer than that if we're completely honest." Emma reminded her somewhat bitterly.

"But that doesn't make it any less true." Marian told her, knowing how difficult it had been and continued to be to ease the other woman's mind.

"Whatever." Emma sighed out. She knew that Marian meant well. Hell, she'd been the blonde's biggest supporter over the last three years, and a part of her wanted nothing more than to allow herself to believe the other woman's words. But Emma had gotten herself to the point where she couldn't play more than a few notes, her fingers nonsensically tinkling ivory keys, her frustration getting the better of her at her constant inability to turn it into something that she deemed worthy. She found herself thinking back to her writing process before she'd gotten signed onto a label, back to when her music had been more about expressing herself than meeting deadlines. One thing, _one person_ , had been a constant source of inspiration for her in those days, but those days were long gone and she couldn't allow herself to dwell on it, so she forcefully pushed it to the back of her mind. She knew the day would come when the dam would break, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't do everything she could to postpone that day's arrival.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Hey everybody! I know it's been a while since I last posted a picture, but my work schedule has been more demanding than usual. I know things might seem like they're moving slowly, but I want to make sure that there's an understanding of what the characters are thinking. I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! Happy reading!**

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"Do you think that Emma had already started dating her by then?" Zelena couldn't keep herself from asking after a few minutes of stilted silence between her little sister and herself. The redhead had waited patiently as her sister had gotten ready for the day, and they were now walking side by side around town.

"I don't know, but it doesn't really matter whether they were already dating or not, does it?" Regina answered, unable to keep her tone neutral, her aggravation seeping through as she promptly looked away, avoiding Zelena's knowing gaze. "We'd broken up months before. Emma had every right to start seeing someone else if that was what she wanted to do, and she obviously did."

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you anything." Zelena muttered out, feeling guilty and mentally cursing herself for not considering how deeply the news that Emma had moved on would impact Regina.

"I already knew that she was seeing- in a relationship with someone else, Zelena." The brunette stuttered out, wincing slightly at her inability to get her words out without them seizing at her throat, betraying how much the reality of the situation truly bothered her. "She told me so herself.

"Regina, are you still trying to convince yourself that you weren't talking about Emma when you told me what would make you happy?" Zelena asked the brunette bluntly, the two of them readily ignoring the curious glances they received from passersby as they went. The redheaded woman couldn't help but roll her eyes at her sister's silence, she defiantly continued to walk without showing any sign that she intended to answer the question she'd been asked. "You can't do it, can you? You know that you came back to Storybrooke because you're still in love with Emma." She egged her on, knowing that she wouldn't be able to help her little sister if the younger woman wasn't willing, or able, to admit what, or better yet _who_ , had motivated her return to their hometown.

"Zelena," Regina gritted out through clenched teeth. "If you don't believe me-"

"Which I don't." She interrupted.

Regina glared at the older woman, unsure if what had upset her was the interruption or the words spoke. "Well, that's not really my problem, is it?"

"Okay, Regina, you win. I'm not going to argue with you. You didn't come back to Storybrooke with the hopes of rekindling a romance with the woman whom you stupidly let slip through your fingertips." Zelena sighed out, more than a little agitated with the brunette's inability to admit the truth. "I'm not going to bring it up again."

"Zele-" Regina started, only to have a hand extended out in front of her stop her in her tracks.

The redhead turned, meeting her gaze while she gently placed her hands on the brunette's shoulders, attempting to comfort her. She didn't pay passerby any mind, no matter how many stopped to glare daggers in their direction for stopping in the middle of the pathway. "Look, Regina, I'm not going to continue to push the subject. It's not my intention to pressure you into admitting to something when you're obviously not ready to. Don't worry about it. I came back to this small town to be supportive of my little sister, no matter what her reasoning for being here is."

Regina couldn't quite keep herself from reacting in shock as she stared at her big sister, her words slowly but surely processing in her mind as she pulled the taller woman into a hug. "Thank you, Zelena." She whispered into her ear, momentarily relishing in the feeling of her of arms tightening around her before she let the other woman go, turned back in the direction they'd been walking in, and continued to walk knowing that Zelena would follow. "Okay." She sighed out in relief. "I know that the hotel we're staying at has been quite accommodating, but I have no intention of living there for the rest of my life. It's time that we start looking for something more permanent."

"I agree." Zelena nodded along.

"I think we should do some research and take the time to consider our options. We can visit anything that captures our attention."

"Are we looking to rent or buy?"

"Buy."

"Okay, we'll start our research when we get back to the hotel."

They walked in companionable silence, taking in their surroundings as they went, only to have Regina break the silence after a few minutes. "You know, I've been thinking about visiting my best friend soon." She pretended not to notice when Zelena tensed up slightly next to her.

"Oh?" Zelena prompted, swallowing tightly at the sudden reminder of a woman that she hadn't really allowed herself to think about in a few years.

"I mean, I don't know if I have any right to call her my best friend anymore to be honest." Regina continued, not letting her big sister know that she'd caught on to how uncomfortable she was with who she'd chosen to talk about. "We graduated high school, promised that nothing was going to change and all, but within a few months we were barely talking to each other anymore." She need to tread carefully, she knew that, because no matter how much Zelena might try to appear unaffected by everything that had transpired between her and Marian, she wouldn't succeed.

"I'm sure that she'll be happy to see you, Regina." Zelena said, struggling to keep her throat from seizing as she spoke. "I know that you've been dying to see your godson again too. You- you'll want to make sure that you get him a present fit for age before you do. You don't want to show up emptyhanded!" She said much too cheerfully, wincing slightly as she heard her voice raise an octave.

"Zelena-"

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Regina. Please." She pleaded, sounding more broken in that moment than the brunette knew she was comfortable with displaying.

"Okay." Regina agreed. "I've been thinking about what I'm going to do now that we're back in Storybrooke and I've come up with a few ideas."

"Ooh, I'm intrigued." Zelena whispered, silently thankful that her sister was so willing to change the subject.

"I've been thinking about setting up one of our clothing stores here in town."

"Our clothing stores?" Zelena teased.

"Yes, our clothing stores." Regina answered with a roll of her eyes. "While the brand might be mine, you're a shareholder in the company and my older sister."

"Aw, I love it when you get sentimental!" Zelena exclaimed, laughing when the brunette ignored her all together and picked up her pace. "Okay, I get it. Back to business." She said, her longer legs allowing her to easily catch up to Regina. "We're going to have to look at a few locations. Were you thinking about buying or leasing one?" She asked.

"I don't know." Regina answered honestly. The brunette wanted nothing more than to stay in Storybrooke, but she wasn't foolish enough to believe that she'd be able to easily move her company headquarters to a small town in Maine.

"Well, we'll figure everything out." Zelena reassured her. "We've, well you've, already decided that we're going to buy a house, which I'm completely on board with by the way." She smiled brightly at the brunette. "And you're under the impression that a In Rusty Armor would do well here, which I can't say I disagree with after seeing how some of the citizens of this town-" She stopped abruptly when she saw the glare being directed her way, only to roll her eyes and continue. "I was only joking…mostly."

Regina dug her elbow into her big sister's side, smiling politely at an older couple that walked by. "Get to the point, Zelena." She whispered through gritted teeth.

"Okay, okay." The redhead answered, subtly rubbing at her now sore ribs. "Were going to need to start considering locations, right?" She asked, waiting for Regina to nod before she continued. "Why don't you talk to Mary Margaret?"

"I'm sorry, I must've heard you wrong." Regina started, roughly pulling her sister off the sidewalk and to a nearby bench where she practically threw her down before sitting down herself. "Why on Earth would I talk to my ex-girlfriend's mother?!"

"Stop manhandling me, Regina! I'm your big sister, not the other way around, so treat me as such." The redhead gritted out as she shuffled around on the bench, trying to get comfortable. "Mary Margaret owns an empty building next to Granny's Diner."

"Yes, I know she does, but that doesn't really answer my question." Regina started, already knowing what it was her sister was implying, but hoping that she'd be proven wrong.

Zelena sighed internally. Regina wasn't going to react kindly to her suggestion, but she knew that she had to bring it up. "You could convince her to lease, or maybe even sell, the location off to you." She stated matter-of-factly, unable to disguise the hint of exasperation in her voice as anything other than what it was. "Regina, it's on Main Street! No one would be able to resist going into In Rusty Armor if the merchandise is put on display where the whole town can see it. You know it's the most logical solution as well as I do."

Regina momentarily closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Zelena." She started opening her eyes and meeting the other woman's gaze. "I understand where you're coming from. From a business standpoint, it would be utterly foolish for me not to consider what you're suggesting-"

"But?"

"Would you stop that?!" Regina exclaimed in annoyance, lowering her voice when she noticed that a few people had stopped in their tracks to stare at the two sisters after her little outburst. "I can't do that."

"Why not?!" Zelena whisper yelled. "Mary Margaret and David both adore you! I'm sure they'd agree to help you if you simply asked them."

"That was before, Zelena. It's been years since I've spoken to either one of them, and I honestly doubt that Mary Margaret and David would be happy to see me, let alone be willing to do business with me, after how things ended between their daughter and myself." Regina told her sadly. She missed Emma's parents very much. They'd loved her immediately, and while she'd found herself hesitating to love them in return, she had. But things had changed since then. She'd been too ashamed after how her relationship with Emma had ended to even consider contacting them again. She'd wanted to. She'd almost caved a handful of times after one too many drinks, but she'd always hung up before they could pick up. She hadn't known what to say, where to begin to apologize. She had no right to ask anything of them, not now.

Zelena considered letting the topic go, and after seeing the sadness in her sister's eyes, the question that had been tickling at the back of her throat bubbled out before she could think to stop it. "Why do you keep punishing yourself?"

Regina turned to meet her sister's gaze again, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Regina, I love you more than anything in the world, you know that, but I have to tell you something, no matter how much I hate to have to be the one to do so." Zelena started. "You've been punishing yourself since the day that your relationship with Emma ended. You stopped your weekly phone calls with Marian, you stopped talking to Emma's parents, and you've been listening to Emma's album non-stop since the day that it was released. Hell, _your_ song has been played more than a dozen times more than any other song in your library!" She rushed out, knowing that the younger woman was already itching to negate what she'd said.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Regina said forcefully, glaring at her big sister, letting her know without having to say a word that she wasn't going to participate in this conversation any long.

"Regi-" Zelena tried to say, not at all surprised when the brunette quickly interrupted her.

"We have important things to do today and we've already wasted more than enough time as it is, so let's go." Regina said as she got up, not bothering to wait for the redheaded woman to do the same before she started walking, knowing that Zelena would be glaring daggers into her back even as she moved to follow behind her.


	8. Chapter 8

"Auntie Emma! Auntie Emma! Did you see me?!" Roland shouted gleefully as he made his way to where his parents, aunt, and Lily were standing. "I scored a goal!" He continued, jumping into his aunt's arms and laughing loudly as she easily hoisted him up in the air.

"Yes, I did! You played an incredible game, Rolo!" Emma beamed up at him, before she spun him in the air and started laughing along with him.

"Why is it that he always runs to her?" She heard Robin jokingly whisper to Marian as the other adults in their group, along with some of Roland's teammates' families watched on with big smiles on their faces as they all celebrated the team's third win of the season.

"Obviously, I'm his favorite, big brother." Emma told him, a teasing smile easily appearing on her lips as she lowered her nephew enough so that he could wrap his small legs around her hip, leaving him where he would be more at eye level with his parents and Lily. "Isn't that right, Rolo?" The blonde couldn't contain her laughter as the little boy eagerly nodded his head in agreement, even as his parents pretended to be outraged. "I'm so proud of you, buddy." She whispered into his ear before she handed him off to his dad.

"Are we going to Granny's for dinner?" Roland excitedly asked his dad, already knowing the answer even as put his hands on either side of the man's face and squished his cheeks.

"Oh, I don't know, Roland…" Robin jokingly pondered, his words slightly muffled by his son's actions. "I'm sure a milkshake is just what I need to heal my wounded heart after my only child chose my little sister as his favorite." He told him with a pout on his lips.

"Yay!" Roland exclaimed in excited, wiggling around in a silent request that his dad him down so that he could run to his mom. "Mommy, we're going to Granny's!"

Marian couldn't help but smile along with her son as she watched him happily bounce in place. "That sounds perfect, but you'll have to change out of your cleats first, sweetheart." She reminded him as she grabbed his smaller hand in her own and directed him to where she'd parked her SUV when she'd gotten to the game with Emma and Lily.

Emma grabbed Lily's hand in her own, entwining their fingers together as she moved to follow behind Marian, a content smile on her face, only to be stopped by Robin's voice calling her name. "Emma, I was wondering if you'd ride to Granny's with me." He told her. The _without Lily_ went unspoken, but the blonde woman heard it all the same. "I need your advice on something."

"Uh, yeah, sure." She answered hesitantly, giving Lily's hand a gently squeeze before letting go. "We'll meet you guys at the diner." She continued, meeting Marian's gaze, silently asking if it was okay that Lily went with her while Emma and her big brother talked on their own drive to the diner. When Marian nodded subtly in agreement and continued walking towards her car, Emma and Robin started walking towards his. "Subtle." She muttered, elbowing her brother in the stomach as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Yeah, I know, but I couldn't wait." Robin sighed out, rubbing at his stomach as he unlocked the doors to his car and slid into his seat, Emma following closely behind him as she did the same thing and clicked her seatbelt into place. He turned the car on, turning the radio off before he backed out of his parking spot and then shifting into drive. "Did you know that Regina Mills was back in town?" He asked her somewhat reluctantly, keeping his eyes on the road no matter how much he wanted to turn and gage his sister's reaction.

"Oh, yeah. I did. I mean, I do know." Emma answered, keeping her gaze on the scenery as she practically glared at the passenger side window.

"You know?" Robin asked incredulously, not buying the nonchalant attitude that Emma was trying to sell.

"Yes, I know."

"And that's all you have to say?" Robin continued, his eyebrows furrowing in genuine confusion.

"What am I supposed to say, Robin?" Emma asked him, irritation slipping easily into her voice as she rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, Emma?" Robin blurted out, not believing that his little sister would rather pretend to be unaffected than talk to him about someone who still affected her so deeply after so many years. "In case you've forgotten, I'm your big brother, and unfortunately for you, I know you better than anyone else do." The _except Regina_ went unsaid, but Emma still heard it nonetheless.

"How did you find out she was back?" She asked him instead of acknowledging what he'd said. She doubted that Regina had contacted him directly after how the brunette had distanced herself from her girlfriend's family after their break-up.

"That's what you're choosing to talk about?" Robin asked her, still struggling to understand why Emma was trying to appear unaffected by the news. "Okay, whatever." He grumbled out. "I saw her walking around town earlier today. I kept myself out of her line of sight obviously, but I honestly doubt she would've noticed me even if I hadn't."

"Zelena was with her, wasn't she?" Emma asked, not needing a verbal confirmation.

"Yes, she was." Robin confirmed. It looked like they were having a bit of a heated argument." He continued. "I couldn't hear them from where I was standing as I kept an eye on Roland, but I know that Regina was really agitated by whatever they were talking about."

"Why do you say that?" Emma asked, mentally berating herself for her inability to keep her curiosity at bay, but not knowing it was a lost cause to pretend otherwise.

"There was a moment where Regina couldn't help but raise her voice loudly enough that a few people couldn't help but stop and stare at them." He told her, a hint of amusement in his voice as he thought back to the brunette woman glaring daggers at her big sister, much like she had numerously when they'd been teenagers.

"Well, whatever. That's their business." Emma told him gruffly. "Is that all you wanted to talk to be about, Robin?" She asked him, her voice softening as she spoke.

"Emma, I love you. I mean, I don't really have a choice in the matter because you're my baby sister after all." He started, ever mindful to keep his eyes on the road as he continued to drive them towards Granny's. "I guess- I just wanted to know where your head was at with all of this. Oh, and before you get the chance to interrupt me and tell me that there's nothing to worry about because you're obviously going to try to convince me that you're telling me the truth, I want you to remember that I know as well as you do that Regina will never be just an ex-girlfriend to you."

"And if I told you that I've already talked about this with someone else?" Emma prompted him, knowing that it wouldn't take too long for him to piece together who she was talking about, but wanting to take advantage of any amount of time she'd be given to get her thoughts in order.

"Then I'd tell you that I'm not surprised that you've chosen to talk to my ex-wife about this, believe it or not." He told her matter-of-factly. "While I'm your big brother, Marian being your first choice is to be expected. She's become your best friend after all."

"That doesn't bother you?" Emma asked him, genuinely curious.

"Really? You're going to continue to deflect?" Robin asked her, taking advantage of the red light to look over at his little sister and catching the grimace on her face. "Marian and I are divorced, but that doesn't change who we are as individuals to you, to our son, to our parents, so no, Emma. I'm not upset that you've chose to confide in your best friend. I'm just glad that you're talking to someone who's going to listen to you and do their best to help you work through whatever confused feelings or thoughts you might have."

"I don't have any confused feelings!" Emma exclaimed, regretting her actions the moment they stopped at a stop sign and her brother met her gaze with an incredulous look of his own.

"Really?" You don't have any thoughts running rampant in that thick skull of yours?" Robin asked her somewhat mockingly. "You're not asking yourself why it is that Regina has chosen to come back now, after being gone for so long, after you've finally allowed yourself to move on with your life and give someone else a chance? You're not wondering why it is you haven't been able to write a single song since the day the two of you broke up?" He continued, inwardly reluctantly to do so, but knowing that Emma needed to be pushed into thinking about the things that she was obviously still trying to avoid. "Look, Emma, I know why you'd rather talk to Marian than me in this situation. She's not going to push you into asking yourself these questions that you're not ready to think about the answers to because she's in a similar situation, whether she realizes or not. Fortunately, or unfortunately for the both of you, I don't have that problem."

"Have I told you that I like Marian more than I like you yet?" Emma muttered out petulantly, a reluctant smile tugging at her lips as she heard her brother start to laugh beside her. "I know why you're trying to get me to talk about it, believe it or not. But like you said, I'm not yet ready to talk about it." She told him sincerely. "I think I'm struggling to accept the reality that she's actually here and that she's not just a figment of my imagination."

"That's understandable." Robin acknowledged, parking his car and pretending to not yet notice the two women and little boy who were sitting at one of the booths by the diner's window waiting for them to walk in and join them. "You don't have to tell me what's going on your mind right now, Em. I can't even begin to imagine where your thoughts are wandering to, but if you ever want someone to help you navigate through them with you, you have me as much as you have Marian."

"It's not going to change anything, Robin." Emma told him. "No matter what's going on in my mind, I'm with Lily now. I'm happier than I've been in a long time. I can't allow myself to think about Regina that way after I promised myself that I'd leave her in the past where she belongs." She continued, her throat closing tightly around the words even as she tried to appear unaffected by them, but like always, her big brother could hear the words she'd left unspoken. She wouldn't allow herself to outwardly affected by Regina, but the brunette woman had already gotten into Emma's head. _Hell, she'd never left_.

"Okay, but if you change your mind, my offer still stands." He reminded her with a gentle grin.

"I know it does, but for now, I'm getting hungrier by the second and Roland's had his face pressed up against the window glass since the moment you parked the car, so we should probably get inside." Emma told him with a laugh as she watched her nephew who was ignoring Marian as she tried to get him to sit down in his seat to no avail.

"Before we do that." Robin started, extending out an arm to keep her from attempting to get out of his car. "Have you told Lily yet?" He asked, narrowing his eyes as he watched as his little sister pointedly avoided his gaze. "Emma?"

"No, I haven't." Emma huffed out. "It's not that I haven't wanted to do it, so don't you dare look at me like that. I just don't know what I'm supposed to say." She told him.

"Don't overthink it." Robin reassured her as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "Just tell her that Regina is back in town."

"Yeah, okay, yeah." Emma breathed out. "Let's get inside I'm craving a-"

"Grilled cheese sandwich, a side of onion rings, and a root beer." He finished for her. "When aren't you?" He asked her, laughing when Emma smacked him playfully in the arm before she got out of the car and walked into the diner, Robin following closely behind.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Hey everybody! Thank you all for supporting this story! Happy Reading!**

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Emma knew that she was being a coward, but she couldn't seem to talk herself out of being one. She'd been distracted while eating at the diner, but she'd done her best to hide it. The looks that Marian had shot her throughout dinner was enough to let her know that she hadn't succeeded in doing so. She'd excused herself once she'd gotten home, telling Lily that she needed to get some air and she found herself once again on the soccer field. Taking a shot, her ball smacking forcefully against the net, and retrieving it only to do it again.

Her mind was running rampant, sweat dripping down her stomach as she removed her t-shirt and tossed it haphazardly to the side, leaving her in a sports bra as she continued to push herself. She didn't know what it was she was trying to accomplish, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to stop.

"Swan!" She heard from somewhere behind her and she stopped in her tracks, letting the ball roll towards the middle of the penalty box on its own as she turned around to meet the owner of the voice's gaze. "I can't say I'm surprised to see you here." She rolled her eyes as the redheaded woman smirked in her direction, her eyes skimming over Emma's exposed skin. "This has always been where you come when you need to think."

"Zelena." Emma acknowledged as she tried to regulate her breathing, regretting that she'd forgotten to bring a bottle of water with her.

Zelena extended her hand out to the blonde, a bottled water held in her grip. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Emma took the offered bottle, giving Zelena a grateful look as she twisted the cap of and downed half of its contents. She shouldn't have been surprised by the redhead's appearance, she'd known to come to her there when they were teenagers and that obviously hadn't changed since then. "Why is it that everyone thinks I want to talk about anything?" She asked her once she'd replaced the cap, her eyes expectant as she awaited an answer.

"Because we know that you're not going to do so willingly." Zelena admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. "But judging by your appearance, you need to."

The two women stared at each other in silence, Emma unwilling to break quite so easily and Zelena not forgetting how much patience was required to get through to the blonde. "I don't want to." Emma said petulantly after an extended silence.

Zelena barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Okay, moving on… I need your help." She told her matter-of-factly, not bothering with pretenses. If Emma wasn't ready to talk to her about her little sister, _because what else, or who else could possibly have the blonde woman in such a state,_ she wasn't going to push her.

Emma blinked, she'd momentarily forgotten how quickly the redhead could jump from one topic to the next. "What do you need my help with?" She asked her once she'd recovered her bearings.

"I'm looking for a location. Well, _we're_ looking for a location." She quickly corrected herself. "We're planning to open an In Rusty Armor here in Storybrooke, but we're not having the best of luck in finding a vacant location that fits our needs."

"You guys are planning to open one of Regina's stores here?" Emma asked incredulously. "In town?"

"That's literally what I just said, Swan. Please, try to keep up." She reprimanded playfully. "Anyway, we were, well actually, _I_ was thinking about your parents' vacant location on Main Street, but my little sister, bless her heart, wouldn't hear of it." She continued, watching with amusement glinting in her eyes as Emma tried to appear unaffected by the mention of Regina.

"Well, that's ridiculous." Emma struggled to get out. "It makes perfect sense that you guys would open one of your clothing stores on the busiest street in town." She continued, unable to keep herself from reacting to what Zelena had told her. "Why wouldn't she jump at the opportunity?"

"I'm sure she has her reasons." Zelena quickly defended. "Whether they're reasonable, well, that's a different matter altogether." She continued, cringing inwardly as she thought about how angry Regina was going to be once she found out that she'd told Emma about their plans after she'd explained to her why she couldn't bring herself to ask her ex-girlfriend's parents after everything that had happened.

"Well, it doesn't really matter anymore because my parents no longer own that vacant location." Emma started to tell her, watching as the redheaded woman's face fell. "I do." She continued, struggling to keep herself from laughing as she watched Zelena lift her head up quickly enough to get whiplash. "And I'd like nothing more than to do business with the Mills sisters."

Zelena squealed gleefully as she pulled Emma into a hug, not caring that the blonde was sweaty mess as the other woman's laughter filled her ears. She'd missed her so much and she'd struggled to keep herself at bay after Emma and Regina had broken up, knowing that while her little sister wouldn't think to say the words out loud, she'd needed her. "When did you become the location's owner?" She asked her once she'd gotten her excitement under control.

"My parents sold it to me two years ago, and it stayed vacant because I didn't know what I wanted to do with it." She told her with a shrug of her shoulders before she cleared her throat and asked seriously. "Where's Regina?"

"She's at our house." Zelena answered, not completely understanding why Emma was asking.

"Your house?"

"Oh, yes!" Zelena exclaimed in excitement. "We bought a house this afternoon! It's the cutest little two-story house."

Emma looked at her dubiously. "It's not _little_ at all, is it?" She asked.

"No, no it's not, but it might be the cutest." She told her with a wide smile.

"I'm sure it is." Emma told her, her lips pulling into a small smile of her own. "Well, let's go."

"Where?"

"To your house."

"Now?!" Zelena asked, looking at Emma like she'd lost her mind.

"Yes, now." Emma confirmed. "I'm going to have to talk to Regina about the vacant location."

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't need to be done right now." Zelena told her, knowing that if she walked into the house with Emma in tow, her little sister would skin her alive. "We could talk to her about it tomorrow, at Granny's Diner, after she's had a cup of coff-"

"She's going to rip you a new one, isn't she?" Emma asked, unable to keep her amusement to herself.

Zelena smacked the blonde in the arm, rolling her eyes when she her laughter bubbled out. "Shut up."

"You should've thought about that before you asked me for help." Emma told her, a shit-eating grin on her face.

"Whatever." Zelena muttered out.

"Do you still have my number?" Emma asked somewhat expectantly.

"Uh, I, yeah." Zelena stammered out as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Send me your address." She told her. "I'm going to go talk to your little sister about a business deal, and you can run and hide until I say it's safe to go home."

* * *

Regina walked into her newly acquired living room, relaxing into the couch with a glass of red wine in her hand. She still couldn't believe that she'd bought a house, fully furnished, and moved in with her big sister all in the span of a few hours, but she had.

She took a sip of her drink and thought back to the whirlwind that her life had become in the last few days. She knew it wouldn't be long before Cora realized where they were and demanded that the return to their respective positions within In Rusty Armor, but she couldn't bring herself to care about her mother's reaction anymore because at the end of the day, Cora Mills was simply another employee in the brunette's multi-million dollar company.

She was broken out of her thoughts by a strong knock on her door, and she couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows as she put her glass on the coffee table, placing it on a coaster before she walked to the door. "Zelena, I don't understand how you could've possibly lost your key in less than two hours-" She stopped mid-rant as her annoyed gaze met amused jade.

"Hi." Emma greeted, a timid smile on her face as she watched Regina expression, noticing the fury of emotions that passed by before settling on a neutral one that she knew all too well.

"Emma." Regina greeted in response. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." Emma answered simply.

"Really?" Regina said skeptically. "Honestly, you didn't seem too keen on seeing me last night, but please, come in." She invited her, not missing the moment on hesitance in Emma's eyes before the blonde nodded her head and followed her into the house.

Emma's heart sped up as she walked behind the brunette, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on the other woman's head to keep it from wandering. "This is nice house." She commented, not at all comfortable with how difficult it seemed to do anything more than entertain small talk with a woman that she'd loved more than anything in the world.

"I don't mean to be rude, Emma, but why are you here?" Regina asked as she turned around to meet Emma's gaze head on, noticing how the blonde's hands seemed to fidget nervously with the gym shorts she was wearing. "I'd ask why you're dressed like that, but you've obviously been out on the field again."

"Uh, yeah. I wanted to get a good workout in." Emma told her as she allowed herself to look around the other woman's house a little bit more, finding it easier to avoid the other woman's questioning looks. "I also wanted to talk to you."

Regina kept staring at Emma, she couldn't help the amusement that bubbled up in her as she watched the younger woman diligently avoid her gaze. "Okay." She told her with a nod as she walked into her kitchen and grabbed a bottled water out of the refrigerator, knowing that the blonde would be thirsty, but wouldn't say anything to her about it. She silently gestured for the blonde to follow behind her as she made her way into the dining room, offering the other woman a seat at the table as she gave her the bottle of water. "Talk."

"My parents' vacant location-" Emma started, only to be immediately interrupted by the brunette.

"Zelena spoke to you?!" She exclaimed angrily, unable to contain herself the moment she realized that her big sister had gone against her wishes.

"Regina, I know that you didn't want her to talk to-"

"I can't believe her!"

"Regina, let me talk!" Emma groaned out, not wanting to argue with the other woman, but knowing that she wouldn't be as accepting of her proposition as Zelena had been, but at the brunette's reluctant nod, she continued. "My parents' no longer own that location. I do, and I would like nothing more than to help you expand your business by opening a In Rusty Armor on Main Street, if you'd be willing to let me be a part of it, that is."

Regina couldn't contain her surprise as she listened to Emma. She'd doubted that the blonde's parents would've accepted her as a business partner if she'd built up the courage to ask them, but she didn't know what to think as she looked in to emerald pools that held nothing but sincerity in them even as Emma fidgeted with the cap of her water bottle. "Why?" She croaked out, wincing as she heard how that one word had caught in her throat.

"Why?" Emma echoed back to her, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to understand what it was that Regina was asking, but deep down she knew without the brunette having to say a word. "Regina, you're my friend." She finished lamely. "No matter how things ended between us years ago, I'm still going to be there for you in any way that I can."

Regina closed her eyes. While she knew that Emma was being honest with her in that moment, she couldn't help but struggle to accept her words because it was all too much. "I was there." She whispered out so quietly that she wondered whether the other woman had heard her.

"Where?" Emma asked thoroughly confused by Regina's response.

Regina opened her eyes, they glistened slightly as she smiled gently in the blonde's direction. "I went to your first concert, Emma." She said much more confidently. "You looked beautiful up on stage. You were completely in your element and you captured the audience with every single note that you played. I was so proud of you that night."

"You were there?" Emma whispered out, her voice catching on the words.

"Yes, but I couldn't bring myself to come and talk to you, or even let you know that I'd watched your performance from beginning to end after watching you interact with Lily." Regina told her, smiling even as she felt her heart tear in two. "I didn't know if you guys were together that night, but obviously, you were and I- it doesn't matter."

 _It does matter!_ Emma's heart shouted in response, but she just met the brunette's gaze and kept herself grounded. "It doesn't." She agreed, her heart hammering painfully in her chest. "What do you say?" She quickly asked, eager to change the subject and get them back to the reason why she'd originally shown up. "Will you accept me as one of your business associates?"

"Are you sure that this is what you want to do?" Regina asked her instead of answering.

"Yes." Emma spoke confidently.

"Then yes."

"Zelena's still in trouble, isn't she?" Emma asked, unable to hid her amusement as she saw Regina's smirk at the mention of her sister.

"Yes, she is."

* * *

Emma had left quickly after her conversation with Regina had ended, taking a moment to text Zelena to let her know that while her sister had agreed with Emma's business plan, she wasn't too happy with the redhead's role in it all. She'd jogged home, knowing that she'd be indulging in a soothing shower once she got home and now she was sitting comfortably on her couch, staring pensively at the television set.

"Hey, baby." Lily said brightly as she walked into the living room and stood behind where Emma was sitting on the couch. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's shoulders, placing a gentle kiss on the other woman's neck. "Are you okay?"

Emma cleared her throat, her gaze firmly planted on the screen in front of her. "Yeah. Why?"

"You seem a little distracted."

"Oh, uh, yeah." Emma started, cringing slightly as she thought about how she didn't want to have this conversation with her girlfriend. "I'm sorry about that."

Lily laughed lightly, removing her arms from around Emma's shoulders and making her way around the couch and sitting down on the opposite side of the other woman. "There's no need to apologize, Emma." She told her.

"Uh, yeah, okay." Emma nodded. She'd been thinking about how she was going to tell her girlfriend that her ex-girlfriend was back in town, but she'd come up empty on how to go about it and now she couldn't keep the guilt at bay as she thought about what she'd chosen to do without bothering to ask Lily what she thought. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Okay…" Lily started. "Does it have anything to do with your earlier talk with Robin?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to understand what was bothering Emma.

"Yeah, it does." Emma told her as she grabbed the remote control that was sitting at her side and turned the television set off before she shifted on the couch and directed her attention to the other woman. She knew that she should've told Lily about Regina the night that she ran into her instead of keeping it to herself. "You met Zelena this morning."

"Yeah! She's great." Lily told her with a smile as she thought back to the energetic redhead she'd encountered earlier that day.

"Yeah, yeah, she's the greatest." Emma agreed with a smile before she thought back to the task at hand. "I've told you a lot about her, haven't I?"

"Oh, yeah." Lily told her with a laugh. "You've told me all about the eccentric redhead that you hated to love back when you were in high school numerous times." She rolled her eyes, her heart warmed as she watched Emma's lips twitch as she tried and failed to keep her smile from breaking through. "She's one of your best friends."

"Yeah, she is." Emma started. "Honestly, I hadn't realized how much I'd missed her until I saw her standing in my living room." She continued, allowing herself the short-lasting lighthearted moment.

"Are you going to try to segue a conversation about Zelena into one about your ex-girlfriend?" Lily asked her, attempting to be nonchalant.

"Wh- what?! How did you-" Emma asked her, unable to hide her shock as she stuttered out her question.

"You're nowhere near as smooth as you think you are, Emma Swan." Lily answered her with a teasing smirk on her lips. "Now, do you want to tell me what's going on?"

"I- yeah. I'm going to be her business associate." Emma confessed, deciding it was best to just rip off the Band-Aid instead of tiptoeing around the subject.

"You're going to be a part of her brand?" Lily asked curiously, not quite understanding how her girlfriend would be playing a role in Regina Mills' company.

"Well, not necessarily." Emma said, her hand coming up to rub the back of her neck in an all-too-familiar gesture. "I'm going to be leasing my parents' vacant location to her so that she can open up one of her stores on Main Street."

"You mean you'll be leasing _your_ location to her." Lily corrected her gently, knowing that Emma still struggled to see it as anything other than something that belonged to her parents.

"Well, yeah."

"I think that's great, Emma." Lily told her honestly, meeting Emma's gaze as she did.

"Yeah?"

"Absolutely. No matter who she might've been to you in the past, she'll always be your friend." Lily told her. While she truly believed that Emma was doing the right thing by helping Regina, she couldn't keep herself from feeling a bit of nervousness at the thought that the blonde's ex-girlfriend would be within her reach again. She didn't doubt that Emma loved her, she knew she did, but she also knew how long the other woman had loved Regina Mills, how deeply. She was intimidated by the other woman's presence, but she didn't want to let on. "Now that we've cleared that up, how about we go get some sleep?" She asked.

"Uh, actually, I think I'm going to go into my music room, maybe try to get some writing done." Emma answered. "Is that okay?"

"That's perfect." Lily answered with a smile as she got up from her seat and bent down to give her girlfriend a chaste kiss on the lips. Her smile dropped slightly as she walked into the bedroom that they shared. She couldn't help but wonder if Emma's sudden desire to write again had anything to do with the return of a certain brunette.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Hey everybody! I hope you guys are still enjoying the story. Happy reading!**

* * *

"Regina Mills, if you were planning to spend your morning pacing back and forth on my porch, you should've worn something more conspicuous, and if not, maybe you could've just knocked on the door." Marian sassed as she opened the door to her house, finding her childhood best friend averting her eyes guilty as she stood outside. "I've missed you. More than you know." She said, smiling genuinely as she pulled the other woman into a hug, her smile broadening as the brunette hugged her tightly in return.

"I've missed you too, Marian, so much." Regina whispered back, her voice catching slightly on her words.

"Well, as much as I'd like to say that it's all your fault, I can't." Marian teased, her lips twitching upwards as she let the other woman go and took a step to the side, silently inviting Regina into her home. She walked towards the kitchen, Regina's heels echoing behind her. "We were both only a call away, but neither one of us ever picked up the phone."

"I'm so sorry, Marian, but after everything that happened I thought it was best that I distanced myself from everything. It's what I needed to do, and unfortunately…" Regina trailed off.

"That included me." Marian filled in. "Believe it or not, I understand why you did it, but that didn't make it hurt any less, you know?" She asked, an understanding yet saddened look in her eyes as she walked up to Regina and placed one of her hands on her shoulder while tilting her chin up gently so that their gazes would meet with the other. "You'll always be one of my best friends, Regina. No matter where our lives take us." She said comfortingly, sincerity shining in her eyes as she pulled the woman into another tight hug. "Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way…" Marian started, discreetly wiping a tear from an eye. "I'll make our breakfast and we can start catching up."

"Honestly, I don't even know where to start." Regina admitted as she took a seat at the kitchen island, watching as Marian started pulling pans out of the cabinets.

"We can start with whatever you're comfortable with sharing." Marian told her simply, slightly lifting one of her shoulders in a shrug. "We don't have to get into any heavy stuff right now if you don't want to." She knew that they'd eventually segue into more difficult subjects. "How are you settling back into town?"

"It's been a lot easier than I was expecting it to be when I made the decision to come back. I've already bought a house and we're settling in quite nicely." Regina couldn't help but cringe internally as she realized that she'd unintentionally mentioned her sister, not yet knowing how they were going to tackle that subject.

"That's great news, Regina!" Marian exclaimed in genuine excitement as she made her way around the kitchen, preparing omelets and pouring orange juice into large glasses. "I'm glad you guys are settling in nicely." She continued. "Roland and I have been settling into this house ourselves, but thankfully, we haven't come across too many difficulties and we have more than enough helpful hands around."

"It truly is a beautiful home, Marian." Regina complimented, nodding her gratitude as a plate was placed in front of her, followed shortly by silverware and a glass of orange juice.

"Thank you. I've done what I can, but the house wouldn't have been anywhere near ready to be moved into if it weren't for Emma and Robin, as much as it pains me to inflate their egos, they've done a great job. David taught them well. "She continued teasingly, knowing that there would be no easier way to acknowledge the elephant in the room than by casually inserting a certain blonde into their conversation.

"Yes, he did." Regina answered, a small smile tugging at her lips a she thought about the Swans. "And if their egos are so easily inflated, not much has changed since high school.

 _Yet, some things couldn't be more different._ Marian couldn't help but think to herself. "If you need any help with redecorating your new house, all you have to do is ask. I'd be more than happy to help, and I know that I wouldn't be the only one willing to lend a helping hand." She said as she made her way around the kitchen island and sat down next to the brunette who was staring pensively at her omelet. "It's not going to eat itself, Regina." She teased lightly before turning her attention to her own plate.

They sat in quietly as they ate, the two of them relishing in the comfort they still felt in each other's presence after such a long time apart. Regina allowed her mind to wander in the meantime, and she found herself thinking about what she'd done yesterday. Not only had Emma Swan shown up at her house to offer her help, but she'd agreed to use her ex-girlfriend's vacant location to expand her business.

Marian could practically hear the cogs turning in Regina's head as they ate, but she knew better than to try to get anything out of the other woman that she wasn't willing to volunteer herself, so she continued to wait patiently and it eventually paid off.

"I spoke to Emma yesterday." Regina said, breaking the silence between them, but not looking in the other woman's direction as she did so.

"Oh?" Marian prompted, genuinely surprised to hear that since she'd spent most of the day with the blonde after all. "And how did that go?"

"It went… surprisingly well." Regina admitted. "We'd already spoken to each other once before, the night that I got back to town, but that didn't go over so well." She continued, not knowing, but suspecting that Emma had already shared that information with Marian. "It was my own fault. I ambushed her, unintentionally of course, but she was dribbling around the soccer field-"

"Unintentionally?" Marian asked skeptically, unable to stop herself from interrupting the other woman.

"I just wanted to see her." Regina said, her voice barely a pitch above a whisper. "I hadn't even realized that I was moving in her direction until suddenly I was calling out her name and-"

"You just couldn't help yourself." Marian finished in understanding.

"Yeah." Regina agreed quietly, while she didn't hear any judgement in Marian's voice, she couldn't help but feel guilty at her inability to keep herself from acting on impulse that night. She'd blindsided Emma, and he ex-girlfriend had done was she felt was necessary to take control of the situation.

"But your conversation with her yesterday went well?" Marian prompted her to continue, not wanting to let Regina dwell on something that obviously still bothered her deeply.

"Yes, it did." Regina said, clearing her throat and allowing her voice to regain its usual confidence. "She came to me this time."

"She did?" Marian asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.

"She showed up at my house last night because she wanted to talk to me about something." Regina started to clarify. "Now before you go getting the wrong idea, she just wanted to offer to help me _as a friend_." She told her, emphasizing the last three words.

"And how exactly is she planning to help you?" Marian asked, her curiosity was peaked and her determination to talk to Emma was growing the longer she spent in Regina's company.

"I'm planning to stay in Storybrooke." Regina rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of buying a house here." She continued, speaking mostly to herself, but Marian heard her clearly if the other woman's amused expression was anything to go by. "But more importantly, I've decided that I'll be opening up one of my clothing stores here."

"How did Emma know you're planning to do that?" Marian asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"She didn't. Not until my sister took it upon herself to tell her." She clarified, her irritation towards Zelena evident as she spoke.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"I'd told Zelena about my intentions of opening a new location here in town and she immediately reminded me that Mary Margaret and David happen to own a vacant location on Main Street, and when I said I wouldn't consider it, she completely disregarded what I said-"

"And she went to talk to Emma." Marian finished for her, knowing that the redheaded woman wouldn't hesitate to do anything if it meant helping her baby sister.

"Emma took it upon herself to tell me that she wanted to help me out with the location on Main Street since that vacancy now belonged to her, and after I somewhat reluctantly agreed to her proposition, she left." Regina stated, shrugging her shoulders as she got up from her seat. She took her empty plate, as well as Marian's, and setting them both in the kitchen sink with the intention of washing them.

"You don't have to do that."

"Nonsense. it's the least I can do after you made us breakfast."

Marian simply rolled her eyes, not bothering to argue with the other woman about something as mundane as the dishes. "Were you upset with Zelena?"

"Oh, I was livid. Understandably so." Regina started, barely holding back her smile when she turned around and saw Marian nodding her head in agreement. "And she knew I would be. I'm also inclined to believe that Emma took the time to warn her after she left my house, if how they were in high school is any indication." She rolled her eyes, her smile breaking through as she thought about their teenaged antics. "Zelena didn't come home until well after midnight."

"You were waiting for her when you finally got home, weren't you?" Marian asked amused.

"Oh, no. I didn't have to." Regina laughed out. "She was going to try to sneak into the house undetected, I'm sure, but she forgot her housekey at home and had no choice but to ring the doorbell so that I could let her in. She started apologizing the moment I opened the door. "Marian's laughter bubbled out. "I was still angry with her, but by the time she finally finished apologizing, the anger had simmered down to my usual annoyance, so when she asked me if I forgave her, I turned around, walked back into my room, locked the door, and went to sleep. I think she's still trying to figure out if I'm still upset with her or not." Regina finished telling her with a smirk.

"You guys haven't changed." Marian told her through her laughter.

"Not at all, but it keeps things interesting, so I can't complain too much."

* * *

"EMMA SWAN!" A voice boomed through the otherwise quiet house, startling the blonde out of her sleep. She groaned, recognizing the voice's owner immediately and already guessing why it was she was being woken up in such a way.

"What do you want?!" She groaned out loudly, thankful that her girlfriend had left earlier that day to run a last-minute errand so she wouldn't be baring witness to this conversation. She couldn't keep the twinge of hilt at bay after realizing how badly that sounded in her own mind. "Marian, people are trying to sleep in here!" She groaned again as she heard the other woman's footsteps getting closer quickly, as she pulled the pillow closest to her over her head.

"You've got some explaining to do." Marian stated as she opened the bedroom door, not hesitating to throw herself on the bed, smirking when she heard Emma's muffled protests as she landed heavily on her.

"I'm going to lose you to Regina, aren't I?" Emma asked as she reluctantly pulled the pillow off her head, a pout on her lips as she looked at Marian.

"Oh, shut up." Marian rolled her eyes as she grabbed one of the many scattered pillows and unceremoniously smacked the other woman with it.

"Ow!" Emma yelped. "That wasn't exactly a _no_ , you know."

"No, it wasn't, but that's because I refuse to acknowledge stupid questions." Marian answered matter-of-factly.

"I could contradict that with a single example, but I'm not in the mood to fight with my best friend first thing in the morning." Emma sassed back, laughing when another pillow landed on the side of her head.

"Regina and I had breakfast at my house this morning. We had an interesting conversation involving you." Marian told her, laying down on her side so that she could meet Emma's gaze as they continued to talk.

"Yeah, I figured you had." Emma sighed out.

"Do you really think it's a good idea, Emma?" Marian asked her, voice softening as she looked on with slight concern in her eyes.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Emma asked, her eyebrows furrowing in genuine confusion.

"Maybe because Regina will never be _just another ex-girlfriend_ to you, and we both know it."

Emma couldn't help but scoff. "Marian, I appreciate your concern, you know I do, but there's nothing to worry about, okay?"

"Does Lily know?" Marian asked.

"Yeah, she does. We talked about it last night, actually."

"Seriously?" Marian asked skeptically.

"Why do you sound so skeptical?" Emma asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Oh, I don't know…" Marian started. "Maybe because Lily happens to know how much Regina means to you, Emma."

"Well, maybe that's why she's being so supportive of my decision to help Regina." Emma lifted her shoulder in some semblance of a shrug. "She knows what Regina _meant_ to me, she respects her importance in my _past_." Emma spoke confidently, even as her mind warned her that no matter how understanding someone could be, everyone had their limits.

Marian didn't want to push the subject anymore, knowing that she'd only succeed in annoying the blonde if she chose to continue. "What are you still doing in bed?" She asked instead.

"I was sleeping, until you rudely barged into my house and disrupted my slumber." Emma answered, playfully glaring at her even as a sigh of relief threatened to escape her lips at the shift in their conversation.

"Emma, it's after 2 o'clock." Marian scolded her. "When exactly did you go to sleep?"

"Honestly?" Emma asked, squinting as she thought about it. "I don't know. I went to my music room after Lily went to sleep."

"You stayed up all night playing?"

"Composing, actually." Emma admitted sheepishly.

"And how much of what you worked on last night actually lived to see another day?" Marian asked teasingly, even as her genuine curiosity shined through.

"Almost all of it." Emma said, somewhat shyly.

"Wow." Marian said, unable to hide her astonishment. "That's great, Emma!"

"Thanks." Emma hadn't expected to spend her night brainstorming, but once she'd taken a seat on the bench and started playing, she couldn't seem to stop. She hadn't made it back to her bedroom until after the sun had started rising. She laid down, pulled her girlfriend into her arms, and fallen asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

Marian could practically see the thoughts running around the blonde's mind, and she couldn't help but think about the timing of everything. She knew better than anyone that Emma hadn't been able to compose more than a few bars since the release of her first album, or more specifically, since her break-up with Regina, yet she'd spent the night in her music room, obviously, inspiration had struck. She wanted to believe that it was merely coincidence, but the inkling that it wasn't weighed heavily on her mind. "Lily's going to be able to share the good news with the label in a few days. She's going to be ecstatic."

"Yeah, I'm sure she will be."

* * *

The two women had continued talking about nonsensical things, keeping their topics light. Emma had eventually gotten up to get something to eat, Marian keeping her company in the kitchen as she did. And when the blonde had walked into her bathroom to take a shower, a change of clothes in hand, she hadn't bothered to close the door behind her, knowing that she had Marian would continue their conversation as she got ready.

But now, Marian was sitting in the living room by herself, patiently waiting for Emma to return from Robin's house with Roland in tow. She'd been flicking through channels, not coming across anything interesting when she heard the door open and close behind her. She turned her head to find Emma's girlfriend struggling to carry an armful of groceries as she made her way into the kitchen.

Marian got up immediately, not hesitating to grab two of the bags that were in the other woman's hands to lighten her load. "I'd ask you if you were planning to feed an army if it weren't blatantly obvious that there two bags are Emma's." She said jokingly as she placed the bags on the counter.

"Yeah, I know that Emma has no problem in going to the grocery store herself, but I thought I'd relieve her of the burden of having to do so while I'm gone." Lily responded with a small smile.

"That's sweet of you." Marian told her sincerely. "I'm sure she appreciates it, and you."

Lily simply shrugged her shoulders sheepishly before turning her attention to the bags, pulling things out and putting them were they belonged. "Where is she by the way?"

"She offered to pick Roland up from her brother's house. She should be back in a few minutes." Marian explained. "She wasn't too happy with me disrupting her sleep when I got here." She continued with a laugh. "But how great is it that she's started composing again?"

"It's great!" Lily exclaimed, her voice not sounding anywhere near as enthusiastic as Marian thought it should be.

"Why don't I believe you?" Marian asked her, her voice gentle.

Lily took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before she answered. "I'm sorry, it's great that Emma is composing again, really, but I can't help but think the timing is a little- I mean, I'm sure that she's already told you that Regina is back in town and everything, but- I know how much Regina meant to Emma and how much she influenced her first album, and I guess that I can't help but think about the timing-" Lily wrung her hands together as she looked up to meet Marian's understanding gaze. "I'm sounding like a jealous girlfriend, aren't I?"

Marian shook her head fondly at the other woman. While she hadn't wanted to like Lily when Emma originally introduced her as the woman she was dating because she clung desperately to the belief that her two best friends would eventually get back together, she'd reluctantly given her a chance and they'd bonded. She decided that if Emma and Regina weren't going to be together, she would make sure that the blonde was with someone who would truly care about her, love her, support her love for music, and wanted to help her grow. Lily had ticked every box. "I know Emma better than anyone, Lily, and I know that she loves you."

Lily smiled as she met Marian's gaze. "You're right. Thanks, Marian."

"You're welcome. Now, why don't you and I get started on something for dinner?"

"Great idea."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Hey everybody! I was able to get this chapter written a lot sooner than I thought I would, so I thought I'd be better off getting it to you guys instead of holding onto it until later on in the week. This entire chapter is a flashback, and it's the longest one I've written to date. There is a little bit of smut in this chapter (my first attempt it, so I apologize if it isn't that great, but I did what I could) which is why I've changed the rating to M. Happy reading!**

* * *

 _Emma was happy. Her soccer team had won the championship, and she was now sitting in the backseat of her brother's car with him at the wheel as he and Marian went over the game highlights, Roland napping peacefully in his car seat, as blissfully unaware of Emma's inner turmoil as his parents._

 _Emma's phone vibrated in her hand and she smiled as she saw that her girlfriend had sent her a text message._

 **Congratulations! I'm so proud of you! Your brother sent me a video of your game winning goal. I wish I could've been there to watch it in-person.**

 _Emma smiled somewhat sadly as she read the words. She would've given anything to have her girlfriend watching her from the stands as her team ended the season undefeated, but she'd understood that the other woman was trying to prove that she had the ability to develop a successful business to herself. Emma supported her, like she always had, but that didn't make being without her in arm's reach hurt any less. She missed her, and as loathe as she was to admit it, they went days, sometimes weeks, without taking to each other, and it hadn't gotten any easier to deal with it all, but she was trying._

 _She took a deep breath, a plan formulating in her mind as she replied to her girlfriend's text. She was going to need to ask her brother for his help._

* * *

 _"Regina Mills speaking." Regina answered her phone distractedly, documents scattered over the top her desk as she searched for a specific one that demanded her signature._

"Hey beautiful." _She heard spoken on the other end of the line, her frantic actions stopped immediately as she felt the warmth of her girlfriend's voice settle over her._ "Are you free to talk for a few minutes?"

 _"Of course, darling." Regina replied immediately, the documents now lay forgotten as she allowed herself a moment to relax in her chair. "I've missed hearing your voice." She sighed out contently._

"I know the feeling." _Emma told her in return._ "I really wish you could've made it to the last game of the season."

 _"You're not the only one, and unfortunately, knowing that you know why I couldn't be there doesn't make me feel any better about having missed it." Regina's words were laced with sadness and guilt as she spoke, and she startled slightly when a quick knock sounded on her door. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looked up to see the shadow of someone standing there._

"Regina, are you still there?" _She heard Emma ask somewhat worriedly over the line._

 _"Y-yes. I'm really sorry, Emma, but someone's knocking on my door and Kathryn hasn't come back from lunch yet, so I'll have to attend to them myself." Regina told her apologetically, she knew that Emma would understand as she always did, but it bothered her that they were constantly being interrupted. She rarely got to see her girlfriend, who had been all-too-supportive when they'd had to embark on a long-distance relationship, and now she couldn't even talk to her on the phone for more than a few minutes without something, or someone, else demanding her attention._

"It's okay, sweetheart. I know that you're busy." _Emma reassured her, obviously having heard the guilt and reluctance in the brunette's voice._ "I'm glad I got to hear your voice for a few minutes. Call me tonight if you don't get home too late."

 _"I will, darling." Regina told her quickly. "I love you." She said as she walked to the door, the person on the other side knocking again, their patience clearly running out. Regina couldn't help but roll her eyes._

"I love you too." _She heard before the line disconnected and the hand holding her phone dropped to her side as she pulled the door open roughly. Her annoyance gave way to shock as her eyes met jade. "So much."_

 _"Oh, my God! EMMA!" Regina exclaimed, not hesitating to throw herself into her girlfriend's arms, elated laughter escaping her lips as strong arms lifted her into the air and pulled her into a tight hug. Regina reacted on instinct, burrowing her face into blonde curls. "I can't believe you're here." She whispered out._

 _"I couldn't go another day without seeing you." Emma admitted quietly as she walked them into the brunette's office, closing the door behind them with one hand while the other kept a tight grip on the woman she held in her arms. "Not even winning a national championship compares to the feeling I get whenever I hold you in my arms."_

 _"You've always had a way with words, Emma Swan." Regina spoke, a widening grin on her lips as she met the other woman's eyes. Her arms wrapped securely around the blonde's neck as she lowered herself slightly to better reach the other woman's lips with her own._

 _Their kiss was anything but chaste as the two women allowed themselves the opportunity to get lost in a moment where only they existed. Regina felt herself getting lowered gently to the floor, her feet grounding her even as she felt herself floating away as Emma arms drifted lower, wrapping around her waist as he gently walked the brunette into the nearest wall._

 _Her back thumped against the wall as lips left a trail burning down her body, warmth pitting itself in her stomach, threatening to drop lower as a moan escaped her lips. She wanted Emma, needed her, but she couldn't allow herself to relinquish control completely. They weren't alone, no matter how much Regina wished they were. Her employees would be returning from their lunch breaks soon, Kathryn would surely be walking into her office with her lunch order, not expecting to find her employer in such a compromising position._

 _"Emma, we have to stop." She muttered out regretfully, her voice shaky as she tried to regain her bearings. "Emma, please." She moaned out as Emma's skillful hands grazed her sides, roaming upward as she felt the blonde grin against the skin of her collarbone. Regina was quickly losing her resolve. She didn't want Emma to stop, but she couldn't let her continue. She opened her mouth to speak, a gasp of disappointment leaving her lips as she felt Emma take a few steps back. She opened her eyes, unable to recall closing them, and met the other woman's darkened gaze._

 _"I hate that we have to stop, but I know why you need us to." Emma told her gently, a lopsided smile on her lips as she leaned forward and gave Regina a chaste kiss on the lips. "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" She asked as started walking around Regina's office, gravitating towards the bookshelves that lined the wall. She knew her girlfriend well enough to know that she'd need a few minutes to recover, so she allowed herself to wander around, taking everything in. She smiled to herself as she took in her surroundings, catching glimpses of the brunette's personality in the decor._

 _"I'd love to, Emma." Regina said as she smoothed out her outfit. "Did you have anywhere particular in mind?"_

 _"Uh, yeah. I made reservations at the Italian restaurant we ate at your first night in New York, but if you'd rather go somewhere else, that's okay too." Emma said, cringing inwardly as realized that she was rambling._

 _"I think that dinner at Marco's sounds perfect." Regina told her with a smile. "What time did you make the reservations for?" She asked._

 _"Oh, I figured that you'd probably be working until later tonight, so I made it for 9 o'clock." Emma told her as she placed one of her hands on the back of her neck and started rubbing at it gently, as she was prone to do when she needed to relieve some of her building tension. "Is that too early?"_

 _"No, darling." Regina answered with a smile. "I'll make sure to get myself to the restaurant on time."_

 _"Okay, but I mean, you don't have to rush to get there. I'll don't mind waiting a little while if you're running late."_

* * *

 _Emma pressed the button on her phone, letting the screen light up again, flashing brightly, tauntingly at her. She sighed as she let her eyes roam around the restaurant once again, pointedly avoiding her waiter's knowing gaze. He'd already been by a handful of times and Emma was getting aggravated by his presence._

 _Regina was running late. Emma understood her girlfriend's situation well enough to know that the brunette was constantly trying to prove herself, and she wouldn't even think about holding the other woman's tardiness against her._

 _"Emma!" Regina exclaimed as soon as she was within hearing distance of the blonde. "I'm so sorry, but as I was walking out, Kathryn showed up with a stack of documents that I couldn't ignore until tomorrow morning-" Regina started explaining the moment she'd sat down, nodding her head in gratitude at the hostess who had shown her where her girlfriend was sitting._

 _"It's okay. I know that you've got a lot going on." Emma interrupted her. "The important thing is that you were able to get everything taken care of at the office before getting here. Now, we can enjoy the rest of our night together."_

 _"You look beautiful, Emma." Regina told her, choosing to change the subject to something much more enjoyable as the blonde had suggested. "I'm feeling a bit under dressed to be honest." She said teasingly, although there was a hint of truth to her words as she was still wearing what she'd worn to work, not having had the time to get to her apartment to change into something more appropriate for her date with her girlfriend._

 _Emma laughed, her cheeks reddening slightly as she accepted her girlfriend's compliment. "You look stunning in anything you wear, Regina." Emma told her sincerely, not wanting the conversation to drift back into anything work-related._

 _The two women had enjoyed the rest of their date. They'd eaten dinner, had a few glasses of wine, and indulged in some dessert before they'd headed to the hotel room that Emma had gotten them with some reluctance from Regina who didn't want the blonde spending money unnecessarily when Regina's apartment was more than suitable enough for them, but her girlfriend had been just as adamant that they use the hotel room since it had already been paid for._

 _The elevator doors slid open, and the two women hurried down the hallway, Emma already knowing where their room was located as she led the other woman by the hand. Her nerves were starting to build as they made their way to the door, the blonde hesitating slightly before she slid the key card into the reader and taking a deep breath as the light turned green, she turned the handle and walked into the hotel room, stopping to let Regina take the lead as they walked in the rest of the way. "I've missed you, Regina." She whispered into her neck before she placed a gentle kiss there, smiling against the other woman's skin when she sighed out in contentment._

 _"I've missed you too, darling. So much." Regina answered back, tilting her head to the side so that Emma could have better access to her as they took careful steps forward, Regina already thinking about how she wanted to spend the entire night showing her girlfriend just how much she'd missed having her within arm's reach._

 _Emma turned Regina around in her arms, connecting their lips together as she stopped them in front of the bed. She let her hands roam gently around the brunette's body as arms wrapped around her neck. She didn't want to rush into anything that night, and she knew that they eventually needed to talk, but she couldn't bring herself to detach her lips or hands from the other woman. Instead, she let her hands roam up the other woman's back, her fingertips brushing against the cool metal of a zipper._

 _Emma smiled into their kiss as she grasped it between index finger and thumb and gently pulled it down. When it'd reached the bottom, she slowly brought her hands back up, allowing her fingertips to brush against olive skin as they went, feeling the goosebumps rise on Regina's skin. She disconnected her lips from the other woman's as she let her lips trace her jawline, then lower, a nibble to her pulse point caused a moan to escape Regina's lips as her own fingers wove into blonde curls. "Emma."_

 _Emma took her whispered name as a signal to remove Regina's dress, her eyes met obsidian as she slid the straps of the dress off the brunette's shoulders, taking a moment to stare at the other woman who was wearing matching black lace underwear. Her mouth went dry as her body immediately responded to the sight. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on."_

 _"You've said that before, darling." Regina reminded her, a teasing smirk tugging at her lips as she stepped out of the dress that now lay pooled at her feet._

 _Emma leaned forward, reclaiming the brunette's lips with her own as the other woman's fingers undid the buttons on her long-sleeved shirt, fingertips running appreciatively over bare skin as the two of them worked to push the shirt off of the blonde's shoulders, her bra following soon after, letting both items land haphazardly on the carpeted floor near Regina's discarded dress._

 _Emma traced lines along Regina's collar bone with her tongue, relishing in the sound of her girlfriend's panting breaths as her hands wandered around her back, not hesitating to unclasp the bra, pulling the straps down smooth shoulders as her tongue delved over goose-bumped skin, teasing around a nipple as an impatient moan escaped Regina's lips._

 _Regina couldn't decide between putting her hands on the back of Emma's head to pull her closer to her breast, or lower her hands to unclasp the button that was holding the woman's slacks together. Her girlfriend seemed to sense her internal dilemma as she brought her own hands to her waist, unclasping the button and letting the slacks pool at her feet before stepping out of them and engulfing the other woman's nipple into her mouth, her other hand coming up to tease the neglected one as one of Regina's hands gripped at blonde curls._

 _Emma allowed herself to be guided by Regina's hands for a few minutes, enjoying the little sighs and gasps that escaped the brunette's lips, encouraging her to continue. She started lowering herself to the ground, pressing gentle kisses to the other woman's body as she went until she was kneeling at the other woman's feet. She pressed a kiss to her belly button, smiling when she felt Regina shiver slightly against her lips. Her hands came up to massage the other woman's sides, holding her in place as Emma continued pressing kisses on her, her tongue coming out to taste olive skin as she placed open-mouthed kisses to her waistline. she brought her hands up slowly, letting her fingertips glide slowly over Regina's skin as her muscles clenched, sensitive to Emma's knowing touch. "Emma, stop teasing me." Regina growled out, unable to keep her voice stoic as a moan escaped her lips as the blonde nibbled at her lace covered mound._

 _Emma laughed lightly, her breath coming out in small puffs that had the brunette squirming where she stood. "I'm sorry, Regina. I just can't seem to help myself." She told her as she let her fingers grasp at the other woman's underwear, pulling it down slowly as she looked up to meet her girlfriend's gaze, her eyes darkening more when she saw Regina lick her own lips. "So beautiful." Emma murmured as she gently nudged the other woman, silently encouraging her to sit on the edge of the bed. "God, I've missed this, missed you so much." Emma whispered, her breath continuing to tease Regina until she couldn't take the teasing any longer and her hand gripped onto blonde curls, silently encouraging her girlfriend to taste her._

 _Emma didn't hesitate. She placed a gentle kiss to Regina's inner thigh before she swiped her tongue from the bottom of the brunette's slit to top, then from the top to the bottom, moaning as her girlfriend's wetness coated her tongue, the fingers in her hair tightening in response to her actions._

 _"Oh, fuck." Regina muttered, immediately losing herself in the pleasure that was so freely being offered to her, she struggled to keep her grip on Emma hair from getting too tight as her other hand kept her own position steady on the bed. She gasped as her clit was sucked into the warm cavern of her girlfriend's mouth. "Oh, my fuck..." She trailed off._

 _Emma could feel her own arousal growing desperately as she listening to her girlfriend's mutterings, knowing that nothing else turned her on quite as easily as whenever Regina started swearing because she was quickly losing control. Emma brought her index finger up to swirl around the other woman's entrance, collecting the wetness there as another moan escaped her lips, the vibrations causing Regina to shiver and moan in response._

 _"Emma, please..." Regina started, unable to continue as Emma alternating between gently flicking at her clit with her tongue and sucking it tenderly into her mouth, her finger still teasing her entrance as the blonde traced around it carefully, avoiding Regina's hips as she tried to get her girlfriend to insert it. "Damn it."_

 _"Patience." Emma murmured in amusement as slowly inserted her index finger, a groan escaping her lips as Regina clenched around as she steadily thrusted in and out of her, encouraged by the noises her girlfriend made as she thrust her own hips upward, greedily taking whatever the blonde was willing to give her._

 _"More." The brunette moaned out. "More, please." She continued gasping in ecstasy as Emma's middle finger joined her index finger in her next thrust. "God, yes." She murmured out, her fingers flexing in blonde curls as she struggled to keep herself balanced on the bed while her hips moved faster, meeting Emma's thrust for thrust as she felt herself losing control. Her stomach tightening as she felt Emma's tongue move that much faster against her, pushing her towards the edge. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..." She murmured out, the arm that was holding her up giving out as she climaxed, her girlfriend's thrusts not slowing down as she screamed out her orgasm, the blonde's thumb replaced her tongue as she pulled herself up._

 _Emma lay on her side, watching, mesmerized by the sight of her girlfriend quickly reaching her second orgasm of the night. the brunette's mouth was opened slightly, puffs of air coming out steadily as her breathing grew rapid and Emma doubled her efforts, a third finger joining the first two, one thrust, two, and Regina screamed out again, Emma's name on her lips as she lay there glistening in sweat as she tried to catch her breath a hiss escaping her lips are Emma gently pulled her fingers out._

 _Emma pulled them carefully towards the middle of the bed, not wanting Regina to get uncomfortable in the position she'd been in, and she waited until Regina opened her eyes, smiling brightly when her jade gaze met obsidian. "The most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on." She whispered out before she captured the other woman's lips with her own. "I love you."_

 _"I love you too." Regina said before she pulled the other woman into another kiss, fully intending to show the other woman just how much as she rolled them over, her fingers tracing over Emma's underwear as a knowing smirk formed on her lips._

* * *

 _Regina had woken up hours later, completely sated as she felt her girlfriend's arms wrapped protectively around her as the blonde slept peacefully behind her. She smiled in contentment as she allowed her mind to drift back to how exactly they'd tired themselves out. She'd missed their connection, and she found herself wondering if she'd made a mistake when she'd chosen to move to New York to start her business instead of staying in Maine with the woman she loved, but she quickly pushed the thought away as she gently removed herself from Emma's arms, stopping when she heard the blonde's nonsensical murmuring, only to get out of bed once she was sure that she hadn't woken her girlfriend up._

 _She padded quietly to the light switch in the hallway, giving herself enough light to see what she was doing as she grabbed Emma's duffle bag, knowing that she'd find the blonde woman's old high school jersey nestled inside with the rest of her things. She carefully slid the zipper over, mindful of the sleeping woman in their bed, and started rummaging around. She spotted the jersey at the bottom of the duffle bag and she couldn't help but smile triumphantly to herself as she tugged on it._

 _The brunette almost didn't notice the small black velvet box amongst the rest of her girlfriend's things, but it had gotten caught on the old jersey that she was now wearing, and now she couldn't ignore it. She gasped quietly as she grabbed the box, the jersey lay forgotten at her side as she carefully opened the box, finding a beautiful princess-cut frame 14-carat white gold diamond engagement ring nestled in velvet._

 _"Crap." The woman who was now sitting up in bed muttered out as she realized that her girlfriend had already found her ring._ I should've known better than to leave it in the same duffle bag as my jersey _she couldn't help but think to herself. She got up from the bed, quietly rummaging through her duffle bag until she found a large t-shirt and put it on, knowing that she couldn't have such an important conversation with her girlfriend while naked._

 _"Emma?" Regina asked, her gaze still firmly set on the engagement ring as she heard shuffling near her as the blonde quickly pulled herself out of bed and sat down in front of her girlfriend, slowly reaching out to grab the ring as the brunette finally looked away from the velvet box and met her girlfriend's gaze, a questioning look in her eyes._

 _"This- uh, this is obviously not how I was expecting to-" Emma stuttered out, not knowing exactly how to explain herself without sounding foolish to her own ears. "Regina, I love you so much. You're my dream come true and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life-"_

 _"Emma." Regina interrupted, her throat tightening as the realization of what her girlfriend was doing hit her and she felt her face fall._

 _"Look, I know this might seem sudden, but after I scored the game winning goal, I looked up into the bleachers and I thought about how much the greatest day of my athletic career couldn't compare to the worst day of my life with you by my side." Emma told her, and Regina found herself struggling to maintain eye contact with the other woman._

 _"Emma, I don't think you've thought about all of the changes that are taking place in our lives." Regina told her as she quickly got up from where she'd been sitting on the carpeted floor and started pacing back and forth around the room._

 _"We'll figure out all of the details together, Regina. Like we always have." Emma tried to reassure her as she too stood up._

 _"Emma, I can't leave New York right now."_

 _"I know that, and I'm not asking you too." Emma spoke gently. "I can go to school anywhere in the country, and I'm sure that more than one women's soccer team would be willing to consider offering me a scholarship-"_

 _"Emma, I couldn't possibly let you do that." Regina told her as she turned around to meet the younger woman's gaze. "I don't want you to have to leave Maine behind, I know how much it means to you to be close to your parents, your brother, Marian, Roland-"_

 _"We can always visit them, Regina."_

 _"Emma, please." Regina found herself begging, not knowing how she could possibly make her girlfriend see reason. She wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of her life with the blonde, but they were still too young, they both had so many things that they were trying to accomplish on their own, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if they got married, and Emma one day grew to resent her for pulling her away from her home, her family, her friends, or the future that she could've made for herself through her own merit. "We both still have so many things that we're striving for-"_

 _"Why can't we strive for all of those things together?" Emma asked, not understanding why Regina wasn't reacting as positively as she'd thought she would._

 _"I'm not saying we can't, darling." Regina sighed out as she tried to meet Emma's gaze, who now seemed to be adamant about avoiding hers. "Emma, we're still too young."_

 _"We wouldn't be the first couple to get married at a young age." Emma retorted._

 _"Emma, I think we should wait a while." Regina said. "Why don't we see where we are in a year?"_

 _"Regina, we've only seen each other in-person a handful of times this year. We go days without talking to each other between, my classes, practices and games, and that's before we include your hectic schedule. We're growing apart already. Do you really think that we should wait a year?" Emma asked, her frustration bleeding through._

 _"Emma, if you're honestly arguing that waiting a year would only make us grow further apart, I don't understand how you could possibly think that marriage is something we should seriously consider right now."_

 _"You're saying_ no _, aren't you?" Emma asked quietly as she allowed herself to sit down on the bed._

 _"No, Emma, that's not what I'm saying." Regina was quick to answer as she hurried to sit down at her girlfriend's side. "I want to marry you someday." Regina grabbed at Emma's arm when she saw her starting to physically pull away. "Darling, please, listen to me. I want us to be together. I love you so much-"_

 _"Obviously, not enough." Emma muttered out._

 _"Emma…" Regina felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach, her girlfriend's name leaving her lips in a painful wheeze. "Can we please pretend that I didn't see this engagement ring? We can pretend that I got your old jersey out of your duffle bag without anything else spilling out-"_

 _"I don't think so."_

 _"Emma, please. I love you and I don't want this conversation to end in a heartbreaking-"_

 _"Goodbye."_

 _"Emma, no." Regina said, tears welling up in her eyes as she pushed herself into the other woman's arms, making her lose her balance and lie down. She held tightly to her as she continued. "We're going to achieve everything we're striving for, Emma." She spoke, her voice shaking slightly as she struggled to keep her breathing under control. She felt Emma's arms tighten around her and she sighed in relief. She'd gotten through to the blonde, and now she found herself looking forward to marrying the woman that she loved someday._


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Hey everybody! I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to get this chapter up, but life happens, you know? Unfortunately, my schedule has gotten a bit hectic lately, so I can't promise consistent updates, but I'll do my best to get them to you all in a timely manner. Happy reading!**

* * *

"Zelena, when are you going to stop being a coward?" Regina asked her sister, unable to hide her exasperation with the situation.

"Oh, that's rich coming from you of all people, Regina." The redheaded woman scoffed back, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"I didn't shy away from talking to Emma like you have, and continue to do, with Marian!" Regina reminded her as she shot her a glare, her own defenses building as she met Zelena's gaze head-on. "You've made no attempt to take to her, and whenever I so much as _try_ to mention her, you get this look on your face that-"

"What look?" Zelena interrupted, laughing humorlessly, trying to ignore how uneven her voice sounded to her own ears. "I don't have a look, Regina."

"Oh, please, Zelena." The brunette scoffed out. "That's where you're wrong." Regina continued. She hated that she'd had to be the one to bring this subject up to her sister, but she knew that Zelena wouldn't stop running away from Marian until she was pushed into understanding how badly she was reacting. "You have the same heartbroken look on your face that I had- that I continue to have -whenever you mention Emma to me. We react the same way whenever either of us takes it upon ourselves to mention the other's girlfriend. We're sisters after all."

"She's not my ex-girlfriend." Zelena growled out.

"Okay." Regina agreed. "Maybe she's not, but that's only because neither of you got your heads out of your asses long enough to make your relationship official." She stated.

"Why are you bringing this up to me now?" Zelena asked, aggravated with where the conversation had headed. She didn't want to argue with her sister when they should be celebrating and planning their newest endeavor, the opening of a new In Rusty Armor location. "You haven't brought Marian up to me in years, you've avoiding talking about her to me as much as I've avoided talking about Emma to you, yet here you are pushing the subject onto me. Why?"

"Because she's going to be helping us with the new location." Regina stated, watching her sister's face carefully, not missing the tightening around her eyes as well as the clenching and unclenching of her jaw.

"What?" Zelena growled out.

"Zelena." Regina sighed. "In Rusty Armor wouldn't even exist as a brand today if it hadn't been for the two of you. You _both_ encouraged me to work on my own brand, to start a clothing line, to expand on it once it started gaining popularity." Regina paused, letting her words sink in a little bit before she continued. "She has every right to be a part of what we're creating now. You know as well as I do that she would've been more involved in everything over the last few years if your relationship hadn't gone so wrong." Regina cringed inwardly at her own words. "She doesn't seem too opposed at the idea of moving on."

"Well, obviously not." Zelena scoffed out as she started pacing around. "She did get married after all."

"She _was_ married." Regina gently corrected, making sure to emphasize the past tense.

"What?" Zelena asked incredulously as she started pacing, thinking that she must've misunderstood her sister's words.

"She _was_ married, Zelena." Regina repeated. "She and Robin got divorced. Now, they're both living in their own houses and amicably sharing custody of Roland.

"How do you know that?" Zelena whispered out as she stopped pacing and met Regina's gaze.

"I had breakfast with her this morning and we talked..." Regina told her. "Like we used to."

"Oh." Zelena sighed out. "Believe it or not, I'm glad to hear that." She continued sincerely.

"Zelena, I can't pretend to understand why it is you're so reluctant to see her again." Regina stated as she walked up to her sister, not coming any closer as she watched her facial expressions. "She wasn't just _my_ best friend, she was one of yours too before-"

"Before I stupidly fell in love with her." The redheaded woman interrupted. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have told her that I had feelings for her, but when we started spending more and more time together after she and Robin broke up, I-" She took a shaky breath. "I knew then that I shouldn't have let my feelings cloud my judgement, but I was foolish and I started believing that I could make her as happy as she made me. I made a mistake. I shouldn't have kissed her, but I did and then she was kissing me back. Everything else just seemed to fade into the background." Zelena brushed roughly at her cheek, catching the tear that had started rolling down.

"Zelena..." Regina whispered, not quite knowing what to say. She took a few steps forward, only hesitating for a moment before she pulled her sister into a comforting hug.

Zelena melted into the hug, and she willingly took the comfort Regina offered her in that moment. She took strength in it. "She found out she was pregnant a few weeks later. We both knew that she had to tell Robin. I couldn't berate her for that. It was the right thing to do after all and it meant to the world to me that she wanted me to be there when she told him, but then that bumbling buffoon in all of his disgustingly honorable glory had been all too happy to learn that they were expecting and he mentioned marriage, and suddenly I realized that I didn't belong there with them in that moment, or with Marian at all, so I walked away."

"Without talking to her about it." Regina stated.

"It wouldn't have made a difference."

"You don't know that, Zelena."

"Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it?" Zelena stated. "Shit happens. Oh, and before you say anything else, I know you're only trying to help, Regina, I really do, but you're really in any position to help me with Marian."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Regina asked affronted

"I love you more than anything in the world, you know that, baby sis, but your relationship situation makes mine seem like child's play." Zelena stated matter-of-factly, a smirk tugging at her lips as the tension in her shoulders began to dissipate. "I mean, we're currently standing in a vacant location that your ex-girlfriend is allowing you to use out of the goodness in her heart-"

"It's a business transaction, Zelena." Regina interrupted, annoyed by the redheaded woman's implications.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't business transactions supposed to be mutually beneficial to all of the parties involved?" Zelena asked, amusement in her eyes.

"I'm not in the mood for one of your games, Zelena." Regina growled out. "What are you trying to imply?"

"Emma has no intention of charging us a rate to lease the vacant location." Zelena stated, happier than she cared to admit to push the conversation away from herself and Marian and towards her little sister and Emma Swan.

"What are you talking about?" Regina asked in aggravation. "Emma said she wanted to become one of our business associates, and that's why I agreed to this whole thing."

"We'll discuss it when Emma gets here."

"Zelena, there's nothing left to discuss." Regina exclaimed in aggravation. "I'm not agreeing to that and I'm going to tell Emma the same thing when she gets here in a few minutes."

"You're being unreasonable." Zelena scoffed out, her own aggravation about the situation making an appearance in her own voice.

"I'm being unreasonable?!" Regina asked incredulously. "Zelena, I'm not going to let Emma practically give me- us -this vacant location without allowing her to make some kind of a profit. That doesn't make any sense!"

"She obviously doesn't care about making a profit if she's the one who brought the idea up to me in the first place!" The redheaded woman argued.

"Just because she talked to you about it and you seem to agree doesn't mean I'm going to let her do it!"

"Uh, as entertaining as it is to watch you ladies argue, I think I'm more than capable of making decisions for myself." Emma said, interrupting the quarreling sisters as she walked into the building, her hands resting in her back pockets as she smirked in their direction, obviously amused by what she'd heard.

"Obviously not." Regina mumbled to herself, pointedly ignoring the laugh that escaped Zelena's lips.

Emma bit her lip to keep herself from laughing as she watched as Regina glared at Zelena. _Some things never change_ she thought to herself as she walked up to them. "Regina, I don't understand why you'd be so against this."

"Because I am." Regina answered curtly, all too aware of how intently her interactions with Emma would surely be watched by her meddling sister.

"Wow, that was a very well thought out argument. You've completely convinced me." Emma deadpanned.

"Emma, I can't just let you give me your vacant location."

"But she's not giving it you." Zelena helpfully reminded her.

"She's right." Emma agreed. "I'm more or less lending it to you."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Regina groaned out. "God, I wish Marian were here."

"Well, you'll be getting your wish in a few minutes." Emma informed her.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Zelena asked somewhat nervously, her eyes drifting to the door and back to meet Emma's gaze.

"She's coming here." Emma told her with a hint of amusement in her eyes as she saw how quickly the redheaded woman's demeanor changed. "I'm sure you'll be thrilled to see her again." She continued teasingly.

"Emma." Regina intervened, a warning look in her eyes as she did so.

Emma avoided the woman's gaze as she mumbled out an apology, and Regina couldn't help but roll her eyes even as her lips twitched into a smile at the blonde's scolded child act. "Zelena, I already told you that Marian is going to be helping us turn this location into the greatest clothing store Storybrooke has ever had."

"Oh, come on. It's not like it'd take much effort." Zelena scoffed out. "We're only competing with two other stores."

Regina pointedly ignored her sister's comment as well as the snort of laughter that Emma poorly tried to disguise as a cough. "Whatever. If you'd rather continue avoiding Marian like you've been doing since we got back, you're more than welcome to go pick Kathryn up from the airport. Her flight should be arriving in two hours and she'd probably be grateful to see a familiar face when she gets there."

"Fine." The redheaded woman muttered to herself as she walked up to her sister and pulled the car keys out of her hand. She started walking towards the door, not bothering to try to come up with any kind of rebuttal. "I'll get Kathryn all settled in at the house while you guys talk business like grown-ups."

Regina laughed as she watched her sister walk of the building, not noticing the pensive look that had adorned the blonde woman's face when she heard the unfamiliar name mentioned.

"Kathryn?" Emma prompted, unable to keep her curiosity at bay.

"Oh, yes. She's coming in from New York and she'll be staying with us at the house for a few weeks while we get everything here set up and ready to go." She told the blonde as gestured around the empty location.

"Oh, okay." Emma said, struggling to keep her face stoic as she found herself wondering if the connection between Kathryn and Regina was simply business-related, or if there was something more personal going on between them. She couldn't help but think about the improbability of Regina allowing a business partner, or employee, stay with her in her house in Storybrooke while they got In Rusty Armor ready. She was itching to ask Regina more about Kathryn, and she found herself opening her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the sound of Marian's voice.

"Roland, stop running!" The woman could be heard as the little boy ran to the door and struggled to get it opened, his tongue poking out in concentration as he did, before he managed to open it enough that he could squeeze through, completely disregarding his mom as he ran into the building and right to the blonde. His arms were outstretched as he jumped into her arms, trusting that she'd catch him.

"Hey, bud!" Emma exclaimed happily as the little boy hugged her. "I'm pretty sure that your mommy is going to lecture you." She whispered in his ear.

"Nuh-uh." Roland said with a cheeky smile as he pulled away and placed his hands on Emma's cheeks, pressing them together as he giggled gleefully.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Rolo..." Emma whispered as best as she could with the boy's hands on her face as she took in the exasperated expression on Marian wore as she swung the door open.

"Roland Emmett Swan, what've I told you about running off without me?" Marian asked, a stern look on her face as her son avoided her gaze, a practiced pout appearing on his lips.

"That I'm not s'posed to." He said as he played with the necklace that Emma wore.

"And why is that?" Marian prompted him, her lips twitching up into a smile as she watched her son continue to guiltily avoid her gaze.

"Because I'm not a barian like Auntie Emma and daddy are." He answered her, his chest puffing out proudly as he heard her laughter and Emma's indignant scoff.

" _Barbarian_ , sweetheart." Regina kindly corrected the boy, a smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eyes as she took her godson in.

"Hey!" Emma exclaimed, glaring at Marian when she kept laughing, and then turning her attention to Regina who was pressing her lips together to keep herself from laughing out loud. "Seriously, Regina?" Emma asked, her heart skipping a beat in her chest as an amused grin appeared on the brunette's face, only to look back at Roland when he started shuffling in her arms, a clear sign that he wanted to get down. "What's up, buddy?"

"I want to say hi to my godmother." He answered her as his feet landed on the ground. "The other one." He clarified as he pointed at Regina.

Regina's eyebrows rose in surprise as the little boy walked over to her and put his arms up, silently signaling that he wanted her to pick him up. She looked over at Marian who simply nodded her head, before she bent down slightly, thankful that she'd chosen to wear casual clothes instead of her business attire, and picked the boy up in arms. Tears welled up in her eyes, as he hugged her and she hugged him back tightly to her. "You know who I am?" She asked him in whispered awe.

"Of course, I do." He whispered back. "Thank you for all of my presents."

Regina couldn't help but laugh. While she'd let her relationship with Marian dissipate in the last few years, she'd been unable to allow herself to forget her beloved godson and she'd made sure to send him a gift along with a heartfelt card for his birthday and Christmas, even though she knew he was too young to read. She'd only wanted him to know that she hadn't forgotten him, that she loved him, but she'd always thought that if the little boy saw her again, he'd only see her as on old friend of his mother's, if not a stranger, but he knew who she was and that realization warmed her heart. "You're very welcome, sweet boy." She whispered into his ear.

"I have a feeling you might _finally_ have competition for Roland's affection." Marian told Emma, smirking when she realized that her words had gone unheard. Emma's attention was completely on her ex-girlfriend and the little boy in her arms, a beautiful smile on her lips as she watched them continue to whisper conspiratorially back and forth.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Hey everybody! I've had a few people comment on the similarities between this Swan Queen AU and One Tree Hill. You're right! I loved One Tree Hill and while I was in the middle of a rewatch I started picturing Emma and Regina in some of the scenarios that were presented in the television show and here we are. I have definitely taken some creative liberties and I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story. Happy reading!**

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"You know, it wouldn't hurt to be a little bit subtler about your staring. "Marian whispered into Emma's ear, tightening her lips together to keep herself from laughing out loud when she saw the startled look on the blonde's face.

"I'm not staring." Emma tried to argue back, even as her gaze started drifting back to the brunette and their godson.

"Si no que apenas." [ _If you say so._ ] Marian replied, rolling her eyes as she met the other woman's glare head on. "How did it go with Lily this morning?" She asked, not missing the flash of guilt in Emma's eyes as she struggled to keep herself from looking back to the other occupants in the room who were now laughing happily at something that Roland had said.

"Sh-she's okay. I dropped her off at the airport this morning, and she says that she won't be gone longer than a week or two." Emma said, rubbing the back of her neck as she spoke and wincing slightly at the knot she felt growing back there.

"Two weeks?" Marian asked, somewhat surprised. While she considered Lily a friend now, she couldn't help but think that the other woman was unknowingly making a mistake by leaving Storybrooke for such an extended amount of time by trying to show her girlfriend how much she truly trusted her.

"Yeah, she assured me that their calling her back to New York for something that most likely won't take more than a few days, then again, the last time she tried to reassure me that way, she was stuck in New York for almost a month." Emma sighed. She felt that she wasn't as disappointed by the possibility of her girlfriend time away getting extended as she should be, and that brought with it a strong feeling of guilt in the pit of her stomach that only seemed to grow stronger as she found her eyes drifting back to her ex-girlfriend and the little boy in her arms.

"You're staring again."

"Damn it." Emma growled out as she turned away from the heartwarming scene and silently gestured for Marian to follow behind her, grunting when she felt the other woman's hand smack the back of her head. "Ow."

"You know better than to throw silent gestures at me." Marian stated unapologetically as they started walking around the vacant location, Roland and Regina's laughter the only thing breaking the comfortable silence between them as they went. "Have you told her that you're giving her the location yet?"

"I'm not giving her the location." Emma growled out, an apologetic look appearing on her features as she met Marian's gaze and the other woman simply lifted an eyebrow. "I'm sorry." She said, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes." But no, I didn't get a chance to talk to her about anything because someone had already told her by the time I walked in."

"Zelena." Marian said, a fond smile appearing on her lips as she thought about the redheaded woman.

"Yep." Emma confirmed, smiling as she caught the twinkle in Marian's eye at the mention of her ex-girlfriend, or whatever it was they insisted on calling themselves after what had happened between them.

"She was here earlier, wasn't she?" Marian asked, rolling her eyes when Emma simply nodded her head in confirmation. "Why does she insist on avoiding me?!" She asked, her annoyance at the situation bleeding into her voice.

"Maybe she's avoiding you for the same reason that I was trying to avoid Regina." Emma answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You avoided her for a day." Marian reminded her, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

"Well, it's only been a few days." Emma started. "I'm sure she'll come around eventually."

"How reassuring." Marian said, not bothering to contain the sarcastic hilt in her voice. "Regina's going to have a problem with you wanting to let her borrow the location, isn't she?" She asked, not wanting to continue talking about the redheaded woman.

"Yep." Emma sighed. "I'm not surprised that she's against it. Hell, I was expecting her to be, especially considering everything that's happened between us, but I'm hoping that we'll be able to sit down, talk about it, and come to an agreement."

"I don't think it's not going to be that easy." Marian rebutted.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"You're welcome." Marian responded, smiling cheekily when she saw the blonde woman roll her eyes as they continued walking around the location in companionable silence.

"I've uh- I've been spending a lot of my time sitting in front of my piano lately." Emma said quietly after a few minutes, not wanting to disrupt Regina's bonding time with Roland by drawing unwanted attention to herself.

"Blankly staring at ivory keys?" Marian asked teasingly.

Emma's lips twitched upwards as she playfully glared in the other woman's direction. "Actually, no." She admitted, a hint of astonishment in her words as she spoke. "I've been writing non-stop lately. Honestly, it's a little disconcerting, but yesterday I spent a few hours in my music room, alternating between playing and writing."

"Why is it disconcerting?" Marian asked, already having a suspicion as to why, but wondering if Emma had managed to come to the same conclusion on her own.

"I don't know." Emma answered sincerely. "But I've been inspired to play and to write so much lately that I'm struggling to understand where it's all coming from. Does that make any sense?" She asked somewhat timidly, Marian's heart aching as she looked in to jade eyes.

"Maybe you're overthinking it." Marian answered, not wanting to put any pressure on her friend to figure anything out when it was obviously affecting Emma more than she was willing to admit. She knew that she'd be talking to Robin about this situation as soon as the opportunity presented itself. "I wouldn't worry too much about it now, Emma."

"Y-yeah, you're right." Emma agreed somewhat reluctantly. "Where's Robin?"

"He's not coming today." Marian started with a smirk. "He had a feeling that you hadn't actually talked to Regina about how you intended to handle the whole In Rusty Armor situation, and he didn't care to watch your ex-girlfriend rip into you."

"Seriously?" Emma asked in annoyance.

"No." Marian responded, laughing when the blonde rolled her eyes. "Keep doing that, you might find a brain back there."

"Whatever." Emma muttered out childishly.

"I'm sure he'll be dropping by in a few minutes. He promised Roland that he'd take him out for ice cream today, so he'll probably take the opportunity to take him to Sarah's shop while we're talking about all of the interior design since that's more my thing than his."

"Shit." Emma sighed.

"You haven't told Regina that you guys' construction company is taking care of the renovations, have you?" Marian asked in exasperation, already knowing what the blonde was going to say.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Emma exclaimed. "She didn't ask!"

"I'm starting to crave ice cream..." Marian started, looking around and pointedly avoiding Emma's gaze. "Maybe I'll go get some with Robin and Roland."

"Marian, come on."

"Nope." Marian responded with a shake of her head. "You've gotten yourself into this mess, you'll get yourself out."

"I'm only trying to help!" Emma exclaimed, her words spoken loudly enough to carry into the lobby where Regina and Roland were still talking amongst themselves.

"What's going on over there?" Regina asked loudly, laughter in her voice as Roland squirmed out of her arms and ran up to where Emma and Marian were standing, Regina walking after him.

"Oh, nothing important." Emma said with a shrug of her shoulders, pointedly avoiding the amused look on Marian's face and the disbelieving look on Regina's.

"Yeah, because that doesn't sound like you're hiding anything at all." Regina said with a roll of her eyes. "Oh, and don't think that I've forgotten what we were talking about a few minutes ago, because I haven't." She continued with a stern look in her eyes.

 _Yeah, that'd be asking for too much_. Emma thought to herself as she struggled to keep herself from smacking the back of Marian's head to rid her face of the smirk she was currently sporting. "I wouldn't dream of it, Regina."

"Mommy, I think Auntie Emma is in trouble." Roland whispered loudly, as he looked between his two godmothers who were currently staring into each other's eyes.

Marian couldn't help but smile in amusement at her son's words. "I think you're right, sweetheart." She whispered back, knowing that both women would hear her, a laugh escaping her lips when they both turned their heads to look at her. "What?"

"Ooh, did I just miss an Emma and Regina stand-off?" Robin asked as he walked into the building, his voice echoing slightly around the empty building. He laughed when he saw the annoyed looks on Regina and Emma's faces, the knowing look on Marian's, and the slightly confused look on his son's. "Jeez. I was just joking." He continued as he raised his hands up in surrender.

"Auntie Emma is in trouble." Roland stated matter-of-factly.

"I am not in trouble!" Emma exclaimed in exasperation.

"Maybe not yet, but you're going to be." Marian pitched in, quite unhelpfully in Emma's opinion.

"Oh, boy." Robin said, trying to keep his laughter at bay as he watched his little sister's annoyance grow. "Regina Mills, you're a sight for sore eyes." He told the brunette, a genuine smile on his lips as he made his way over to where she was standing, no hesitation in his movements as he pulled her into a tight hug. "Welcome back." He whispered into her ear. "We've _all_ missed you."

"I've miss you guys too." Regina whispered back in response as she tightened her own arms around him, letting go after a few seconds but keeping a hand around his waist as he kept one of his arms around her shoulders.

"Now, I'm going to take my son to Any Given Sundae because I promised him I'd do so." Robin told them all, his smile brightening when he saw his son beaming back at him.

"I'm going with you." Marian said. "I've been craving chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream lately." She told him with a meaningful look that had both Emma and Regina rolling their eyes at the woman's lack of subtlety.

Robin shook his head, amusement in his eyes as he picked his son up in his arms and made his way to the door, opening it and waiting patiently as Marian past him, before he turned to the two women standing in the middle of the vacant building. "Don't kill my little sister, Regina."

"Bye, godmothers!" Roland yelled out, waving enthusiastically over Robin's shoulder as they walked away, the door closing softly behind them.

"Tell me, Emma Swan, what have you done now to get yourself in trouble this time?" Regina asked as she put her hand down after waving goodbye to their godson, her smile fading and a stern look appearing in its place.

"I haven't done anything!" Emma exclaimed, her hands smacking down at her sides in her exasperation.

"Okay, you haven't done anything." Regina agreed. "But there's obviously something, or some things, you have yet to talk to me about, so why don't we go ahead and change that now?" Her words came out more as a statement than a question.

"Well, Zelena already told you that I'm planning to let you borrow the building and you're obviously not taking the news as well as I was hoping you would." Emma said, crossing her arms defensively over her chest and jutting her hip out to the side in preparation for the argument she knew they were getting ready to have.

"Of course not!" Regina exclaimed.

"Regina, you're being irrational right now." Emma stated calmly. "If you'd give me the chance to explain my idea to you, I'm sure you'd understand how this could all be mutually beneficial."

Regina laughed humorlessly at Emma's words. "Okay, go ahead and explain it to me then."

"I will, but you're going to have to actually listen to what I'm saying, so I suggest that you stop thinking about immediately shutting me down without giving me a chance to talk."

"Fine." Regina responded as she crossed her own arms over her chest, an expectant look appearing on her face, silently urging the blonde to continue.

"Okay, like I tried to clarify earlier, I wouldn't be giving you the vacant location as much as I would be letting you borrow it." She uncrossed her arms, silently gesturing to Regina that she let her continue without interrupting her. "I've already chosen the company that'll be taking care of all the building's renovations, and that's where the arrangement would become a mutually beneficial one."

"Okay, how?" Regina asked skeptically.

"Regal Construction & Designs happens to be my company. Well, technically speaking, it belongs to Robin as much as it belongs to me, but the specifics of that aren't really important right now." Emma said, putting a stop to her ramblings. "The point is that that's where I'd be making a profit."

"You actually did it." Regina whispered out in awe, lowly enough that Emma couldn't hear her. She cleared her throat and spoke louder. "You guys started your own company?" She asked.

"Yeah, we did." Emma answered proudly. "We'd uh- we'd stared doubting ourselves after we were only getting contracted for minor renovations, but our parents encouraged us to keep trying- you know how they are- and after a few months, our phones started ringing more, and business started picking up. I mean, we're moderately successful now and we stand by our work."

"That's really great, Emma." Regina told her with a genuine smile. "I'm proud of what you've both accomplished."

"Thank you." Emma said with a genuine smile. "Wait, does that mean that I'm not in trouble after all?" She asked with a knowing smirk.

"For now." Regina answered with a smirk of her own. "But knowing you, I'm sure it won't be long before you've done something to get yourself in trouble again."

"Well, I wouldn't have been in trouble at all if Zelena hadn't thrown me under the bus in an attempt to save herself." Emma replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "But I can't say I blame her, Marian can be kind of scary."

"Well, Marian jumped at the opportunity to run away when she thought I was going to yell at you, so it's a little difficult to think of her as being scary right now, more so when I stop to think about the probability of her eating her ice cream without a care in the world while Robin neglects to tell her that she's got some on her nose."

Emma couldn't help but laugh at Regina's words. "Some things will never change. So, how much longer do you think Zelena's going to get away with avoiding Marian?"

"Not very long. If Marian loses her patience, she'll take it upon herself to make Zelena talk to her."

"So, she's still avoiding you?" Robin asked as he watched Roland lick blissfully at his ice cream cone, completely unconcerned with his parents' conversation.

"Yeah." Marian sighed out as she licked at her own ice cream cone, leaving a smudge of ice cream on her nose as she did. "I don't know what to do."

"Well, it seems to me like you've got two options." Robin started, a small smile teasing at his lips as he took in the all-too-familiar smudge on his ex-wife's nose, knowing that his son would soon be sporting one of his own. "You could continue to wait for her to get her shi-tuff together and come to you, or you could confront her yourself if you're feeling particularly impatient." He told her matter-of-factly.

"Robin, do you think I'm wasting my time?" Marian asked him.

"Do you?" Robin asked in return.

"Seriously?" Marian volleyed back in annoyance.

"Marian, I love you very much. Not only are you the mother of my son, but you're one of my best friends." Robin started seriously. "I want you to be happy, but I can't be the one to tell you whether you're wasting your time or not. You're the only one who's going to be able to answer that question honestly."

"You're right." Marian sighed out.

"I wish I would've known you were going to say that." Robin said with a playful pout. "I would've had my camera at the ready."

"Oh, shut up." Marian said, laughing as she rolled her eyes and brought her attention back to her ice cream cone.

"I'm only joking. I wouldn't embarrass you like that." Robin told her with a smirk on his lips. "I mean, it's one thing to have you on camera admitting that I was right about something, but to have you doing so with ice cream smeared on your nose..." He said, laughing as soon as his words registered on Marian's face, their son's attention recaptured by the sound. "Ouch." He muttered out as he rubbed at his chest, trying to alleviate the sting of Marian's slap.

"Mommy, no hitting." Roland scolded Marian. His words having little impact with the stern look on his features dulled by the melted chocolate ice cream smeared around face.

"Yeah, Marian no hitting." Robin said, sticking his tongue out when their son's attention was no longer on them.

"Very mature." Marian laughed. "Do you think we should start heading back yet?"

"Yeah, that'd probably be best. I'm sure my little sister has managed to have Regina see things her way by now." Robin answered confidently.

"Are you sure about that?" Marian asked him skeptically.

"This is Emma and Regina we're talking about." Robin scoffed out. "They've near really been able to say _no_ to each other. And while some things might've changed in the last few years, that sure as sh- uh, yeah, hasn't."

"You make a good point." Marian nodded.

"Holy shit, that's twice in one day!" Robin exclaimed loudly, wincing when Marian's toe connected forcefully with his shin for swearing in front of Roland... again.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get another chapter up, but life happens and my schedule is beyond hectic these days. Happy reading!**

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"I wonder… are you two as obviously transparent to each other as you are to everyone else?" Robin asked rhetorically as he walked up to where Regina was standing as she looked through the color pallets that Emma and Marian had spent the greater part of an hour arguing about until she'd had enough and intervened.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him with a scoff that poorly masked her genuine confusion.

"Well... you know as well as I do that you've already chosen the color scheme that Emma wanted, yet here you are, staring at those color pallets so intently, you'd think they held the answers to the universe within them." Robin continued in a low voice as he watched the tension start to rise in the brunette's shoulders, her eyebrows furrowing as she continued to stare at the pallets without seeing them. "You're still in love with my little sister, Regina."

The brunette struggled to keep her grip on the color pallets steady as she spoke tersely. "I don't know what you're talking about, Robin."

"Really?" Robin asked undeniably amused by Regina's reaction. "That's what you're choosing to go with?"

"Robin-" The brunette started, only to be interrupted by him.

"Do you want to know what I think?" He asked her rhetorically. "I think you've conveniently forgotten just who it is you're talking to." He stated, lifting a hand up to keep her from interrupting him and pointedly ignoring the glare he received in return. "Now, Marian might be your best friend, and Zelena's your big sister and all, but I doubt that you've taken the time to tell them about the day you flew back to Storybrooke in tears after you'd woken up in a hotel room alone after Emma's failed attempt at a marriage proposal, or am I wrong?" He asked again. Robin was more than aware that he was playing a dangerous game by pushing the brunette as much as he was, but he needed her to admit to him why she was back in town, otherwise he wouldn't be able to help her as much as he wanted to. "Yet, I know every detail... and why is that?" He asked, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. "Because I was the one you called that day."

"Robin, you promised." Regina reminded him in a harsh whisper not at all comfortable with talking about that particular subject with Emma somewhere nearby.

"Yes, I know. I promised you that I wouldn't let anyone find out that you came back to Storybrooke looking for Emma four years ago, only to return to New York when she still hadn't come back after three days. I can assure you that I've kept my promise to you." Robin told her gently, watching as the tension eased out of Regina's shoulders as she processed his words. "Regina, I know you're going to take this the wrong way, even if it's not my intention to upset you, but I have to ask you why it is you've come back."

"How exactly was I supposed to take that if not _the wrong way_?" Regina asked him with a scoff, her defenses rising.

"It's simple, really. I'm asking you as someone who considers you one of their best friends. I'm asking you as someone who doesn't want to see you get your heart broken... again." He told her, smiling gently when he saw the upward tilt of her lips. "I'm not asking you as Emma's overprotective brother, okay?" He waited until he saw her nod slightly in agreement. "Now, I know better than to think this is the time, or the place, for us to have a conversation like this one, but I'm hoping that you'll be willing to have it with me sometime soon."

"I couldn't possibly bring myself to say no to you after listening to what you've just said." She told him with a sincere smile before she returned her attention to the color pallets. "And as much as it pains me to admit it, you were right. I'd already chosen the color scheme that Emma wanted before I even looked at either of their choices."

"Did you just say that I was right?" Robin asked in wonder, laughing when Regina simply rolled her eyes and walked away from him and to where Emma and Marian were standing as they kept arguing while Roland sat on the counter watching them, his eyes following them intently as they continued. "I think I need to start walking around with a GoPro strapped to my chest." He muttered to himself.

"Okay, I've made my decision." Regina spoke, her eyebrows furrowing in annoyance as her words went unheard by the two other women. She looked to Robin who simply shrugged his shoulders and made his way over to where his son was sitting, their eyes following Emma and Marian as they continued their back and forth. The brunette rolled her eyes before she put her index finger and thumb in a loose circle and placed them to her lips, letting out a shrill whistle that immediately got everyone's attention.

"Whoa!" Roland exclaimed in whispered awe. "That was so cool!"

"Thank you, sweetheart." Regina acknowledged the little boy with a kind smile. "Now that I have everyone's attention, I can share my decision on the color scheme with all of you."

Marian rolled her eyes as she walked to Robin's other side and settled in next to him. "She chose Emma's, didn't she?" She asked him in a whisper.

"Obviously." Robin answered in a low voice, a smile threatening to break through as he watched his ex-wife cross her arms and her lip protrude in a pout. "Which one did you choose?" He asked Regina in a louder voice, struggling to suppress his laughter.

"I think that the options that Emma presented are better fitted for In Rusty Armor than the ones that Marian chose." She answered confidently, a small smile on her lips as she watched Emma fist-pump the air in her excitement.

"Yeah, like she thinks Emma's ass are better fitted in those damn skinny jeans." Marian muttered loud enough for only Robin to hear her.

"Ew." Robin groaned lowly, his face scrunched up in disgust. "I really didn't need to hear you say that about my little sister."

"Sorry." Marian said, not sounding the least bit apologetic as a smirk appeared on her lips.

"We both know you're not."

Instead of rebutting, Marian walked up to the two other women who were currently looking through a catalog, the two of them whispering back and forth while Regina wrote in a leather-bound journal and Emma's eyes drifted up to scan the brunette's face only to dart back down to the catalog whenever the brunette started to look in her direction. "What are you guys doing?" She asked, startling both women out of their activities, a guilty look on the blonde's face when she saw the knowing look in Marian's eyes.

"We're considering furnishing options." Regina stated before returning her attention to the catalog. "I think we're better off going with a bit of a simplistic style since we're sticking to whites, blacks, and grays for the color scheme." She explained as Emma nodded along in agreement.

"That makes sense." Marian agreed, still somewhat annoyed that her color scheme choice had been so blatantly ignored, but she should've known better than to think that she'd stood a chance against Emma and those damn mesmerizing green eyes of hers when it came to Regina. "I'm heading home with Roland now. Regina, are you sure you're okay with me dropping him off at your house tomorrow morning?"

"Absolutely." Regina answered confidently.

"Great. I'll see you in the morning then, Regina." She said as she pulled the other woman into a warm hug, before letting go and saying her goodbyes to Emma and Robin while Roland jumped into the brunette's arms and wrapping his little arms around her.

"I get to see you tomorrow!" He whispered into Regina's ear.

"Yes, you do, sweetheart." Regina agreed with a whisper of her own and a smile on her face. "I can't wait to spend the day with you."

"Roland, say goodbye to Auntie Emma and daddy." Marian told the little boy as Regina lowered him carefully to the ground.

"Bye, Auntie Emma and daddy!" Roland shouted as he ran up to Marian, taking her hand into his own and tugging, grunting when she didn't budge.

"Seriously, Rolo?" Emma asked, a pout on her lips even as her amusement at the situation tugged on her lips. "Where's my hug?" She asked as she extended her hands out to the little boy.

"Oh, right!" Roland said as he ran back to where Emma was standing and extended his own hands upwards, laughing when the blonde pulled him into her arms and started peppering his little face with kisses. "Auntie Emma!"

"I can't believe you thought you'd be able to leave without giving me a proper goodbye." Emma told him in between kisses, laughing as his little hands held her face. "I thought I was your favorite!"

"You are!" Roland told her between gasps of laughter. "But Auntie Regina is too!"

"How is it that he now has two favorites and I'm still not one of them?" Robin asked as he watched his little sister and his son carry on with their goodbyes, his words ignored by them both.

"Join the club." Marian grumbled out, a traitorous smile playing on her lips. "Come on, Roland. It's time to go. I think you've hurt your daddy's feelings enough for one night."

"Okay!" Roland agreed happily as Emma set him down on his feet. "Bye, daddy!" He yelled out as he ran past Robin without a second glance.

"Un-fucking-believable." Robin muttered as he watched his son happily walk out the door with Marian. He turned his attention to Emma and Regina who were both trying, and failing, to conceal their laughter. "Oh, shut up." He told them with a roll of his eyes.

* * *

Robin drove his SUV slowly up the Mills' driveway, he'd driven to the house with the soft crooning of artists like Matthew Ryan the only thing disturbing the comfortable silence as he did. He parked, turned the engine off, left the key in the ignition, and then turned his head slightly in the brunette's direction. "It's best that I don't go inside tonight. I can see that the lights are turned on, so Zelena's obviously home already, and I doubt that she'd appreciate me showing up at the house you two share without you not giving her a warning..." He drifted off slightly, a pang of guilt making him pause momentarily before he continued. "We can talk here."

"See, I knew there had to be a reason why you were being so adamant about being the one to drive me home." Regina told him with a soft sigh.

"Regina, I was adamant about driving you home because I didn't want you walking home by yourself at this hour. It's close to midnight." He corrected her gently. "I didn't do this to corner you. Please, don't think that that's what I was trying to do."

"I don't think that." Regina told him. "But I'll admit that I'm struggling to understand why you're behaving this way towards me. Because after everything that happened between Emma and myself, I thought you'd hate me." She told him, her throat tightening slightly as she spoke the words. "Yet here you are, being as supportive as you've always been."

"Here's the thing, Mills. Emma will always be my little sister, no matter how many times I tried to mail her back to the hospital when we were kids..." He told her jokingly, smiling when he saw the brunette's lips twitch. "But she's definitely not a little girl anymore. And while it's taken me some time to come to terms with it, she doesn't need me to fight her battles for her. Hell, she never did."

"I still don't understand."

"I'm always going to do what I can to protect Emma, whether she realizes that I'm doing it or not, but she wasn't the only one who was left broken hearted when your relationship ended." Robin continued, not knowing if Regina would understand what he was implying without him having to say the words. "She's not the only one I'm going to protect." He told her sincerely.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Regina taking the time to digest Robin's words. Her heart was swelling with love and gratitude for the man sitting by her side, a man who was offering her a shoulder to lean on like he always had. "I never thanked you for keeping your promise."

"I was never expecting a _thank you_." Robin told her as he clicked his seatbelt off and shifted in his seat so that he could look at her more directly as he spoke. "While you might be Emma's girl- ex-girlfriend, you mean more than that to me, and I'm sure that deep down you know that, whether you want to admit it or not." He told her, watching her reaction intently as he continued. "We were very close in high school outside of your relationship with my sister, and I'd be lying if I said that it didn't leave me a little broken to see the lost look in your eyes that day I picked you up from the airport."

Well, I brought that on myself." Regina told him with a resigned sigh, tears building up in her eyes as she thought about just how wrongly things had gone the night she found the engagement ring. "I should've known better than to shoot Emma down so quickly. I know that now, obviously, but at the time I thought we'd wake up in the comfort of each other's arms the following morning and talk over breakfast. I thought I'd get the chance to explain my feelings to her in depth..." She faded out as she angrily wiped at a tear that had started rolling down her cheek. "I shouldn't have waited, Robin. I should've told her in that moment why I was fearful for the future of our relationship. I could've told her how much I'd missed her while I was in New York and she was in Maine. I could've told her how much our long-distance relationship was affecting me, how much it was draining my resolve to stay where I was when all I wanted was to be with her. I should've told her how much I loved her. I should've told her that I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with her, but... I didn't."

Robin turned his attention to the windshield, giving the brunette a few seconds to compose herself. He knew he couldn't begin to imagine how difficult it had been for Regina to open-up as much as she had, but he knew he couldn't fault her needing some time to collet herself without his eyes following her every movement. "Regina, you're not the only one at fault for how things ended between you and Emma, you know." He told her gently, not wanting to startle her out of her thoughts, but wanting to continue their conversation. "She made mistakes too. She shouldn't have left. She should've stayed so that the two of you could talk calmly, but she didn't. She chose to run away instead."

"It doesn't really matter who was at fault anyway, does it?" Regina asked him with a humorless laugh. "We broke up years ago and it's obvious that she's moved on."

Robin hummed pensively, reaching up to scratch at his beard. "Lily?" He asked.

"Do you know of your sister having more than one girlfriend at a time these days? Regina rebutted somewhat sarcastically.

"Ooh, snarky." Robin answered, the amusement evident in his voice. "Look, Regina, I'm going to be as honest with you as you've been with me, I just ask that you keep whatever I tell you to yourself. I'd like it if you could continue to trust me enough to keep your secrets, your promises, and maybe I could trust you to do the same, but only if it's okay with you."

"Yeah, it's more than okay with me." Regina told him reassuringly as she shuffled in her own seat so that she could meet Robin's gaze.

Robin took a deep breath and let it out slowly, preparing himself to voice something that had been weighing heavily on his mind for longer than he cared to admit. "I don't like that Emma is dating Lily."

"Oh." The brunette breathed out. She didn't know what it was she'd been expecting to hear, but of all the things that she'd conjured up in her mind, what Robin said hadn't been one of them. "Why don't you like it?"

"I don't know." Robin answered honestly. He rubbed the back of his neck in much the same way that Regina had seen Emma do countless times before, an inherited trait from David Swan if she had to guess where they'd gotten it from. "I've gone over it in my head, trying to come up with reasons, but I keep coming up empty. But it's like a feeling in the pit of my stomach that only seems to grow the longer she's around."

"Robin, I don't think I'm the right person to talk to about this." Regina told him sincerely. "I mean, she's your sister's girlfriend, so obviously, my opinion of her will be skewed no matter what."

"Because you're still in love with Emma?" Robin asked.

Regina took a deep breath then let it out slowly as she steadied her resolve. She knew that there'd be no point in continuing to deny something they both already knew to be true." Yes, because I'm still in love with Emma."

"She's the reason why you came back to Storybrooke, isn't she?" Robin asked her knowingly.

"She's not the only reason I came back." Regina stated.

"Maybe not, but she's definitely the most important reason."

"Well, we've already agreed to trust each other enough to keep each other's secrets, so yes, she is." Regina sighed. She squinted as she looked up, a telltale sign that she was getting a headache, a sign that Robin knew all-too-well.

"Maybe we should call it a night." Robin suggested kindly. "We've had a long day, and whatever else we were going to talk about tonight can wait until you've gotten some much-needed sleep."

"Are you sure?" Regina asked, stuck between being relieved by Robin's suggestion and holding out a little while longer. She'd missed their conversations more than she'd realized and she was somewhat reluctant to cut their night short.

"Yep." Robin answered with an affirmative nod. "But before you go inside, I'd like to ask you if you could help me out with something... it's kind of important."

"Yeah, of course." Regina readily agreed. "What is it?"

"I need you to convince your stubborn sister to talk to Marian." He started, putting a hand up to keep the brunette from interrupting him. "I know how difficult that's going to be, but I can see how much Marian is dying to talk to her, to clear the air between them, but she's not going to be able to do that if Zelena won't give her the opportunity."

"What about you?" Regina asked.

"What about me?" Robin asked in return, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "I'm the moron who couldn't see that my best friend had fallen in love with my girlfriend under my nose, or maybe I was foolishly trying to blind myself to that reality when Marian told me she was pregnant... I mean, we were happy for a while, but I know better now. I never wanted Marian to settle, not when we were teenagers in high school, and not now. That wouldn't be fair to her, or to Roland, or to me... or to Zelena."

"Robin..."

"If Zelena loves Marian as much as I know that Marian loves her, then I want them to be happy." He continued sincerely. "Hell, I'd be happy too."

"What if I can't convince her to talk to Marian?" Regina asked. "She's more stubborn than I am."

"Barely." Robin muttered out. "Ow!" He exclaimed rubbing at his chest where the brunette had smacked him. "But if she doesn't talk to Marian soon, she'll be talking to me. I'll even climb in through her window if I have to." He told her with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I think you might just have to." Regina told him seriously.

"Fuck."


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Happy reading!**

* * *

"You know, I'd kind of been hoping that Regina was joking about me having to climb through Zelena's window, but nope… here I am, scaling a two-story house like a dumbass because I'm… well, I'm a dumbass." Robin muttered to himself as he smoothly climbed up to the window, smiling to himself as he gently pushed the window upward and watched it move upward. "Thanks, Regina." He muttered out somewhat sarcastically. While he was glad that the brunette had left the window unlocked for him to climb through, he was still a little annoyed that she hadn't been more successful in her attempts to convince her older sister that she needed to stop avoiding her problems.

He'd driven away from the Mills' house feeling optimistic, only to have that feeling completely dissipate when he'd received a text message from Regina sometime after midnight telling him that she'd tried and failed to get her sister to agree to stop avoiding Marian. Stubbornness was something that neither one of the Mills sisters had grown out of. He'd merely rolled his eyes as he typed his reply, asking Regina if she could kindly make sure that Zelena's window was unlocked. He'd smiled when he'd gotten the brunette's text confirming that she'd been able to take care of it. _If only getting Zelena to pull her head out of her ass and stop avoiding Marian had been so easy_ , he'd thought to himself as he'd tossed his phone onto the nightstand before turning in for the night.

"Shit." He grunted quietly as he pulled himself carefully in through the window, narrowly missing knocking himself out with the window frame. He stood up slowly, not sure if he'd made enough noise to alert the sleeping woman to his presence prematurely.

 _Obviously, not much has changed. She still sleeps like the dead,_ he thought to himself as a fond smile found its way onto his lips. He looked down at his boot-laced feet for a few seconds before he took slow, measured steps in the direction of Zelena's bed. He stopped a few steps in front of her and looked down at her sleeping form, part of him feeling guilty for waking her up in such a way. "Well, here goes nothing..." He muttered to himself as he bent down and gently shook the woman awake. "Zelena!" He whisper-yelled, getting up the moment her eyes shot open. "I'm going to ask that you actually take a few minutes to listen to what I have to say before you start screaming your head off like a banshee." Robin whispered quietly, as made watched her get up and rest her back against her headboard. He held his hands up in surrender as he moved towards her and sat on her bed, meeting Zelena's glare head on... his grayish blue eyes staring intently into the redheaded woman's vibrant blues. "I'm not here to hurt you and I'm not here to argue with you." He rolled his eyes at the disbelieving look he received. "Zelena, I just want to talk to you. I swear."

Zelena took a deep breath through her nose, releasing it through her mouth in aggravation. She looked pointedly at the man sitting patiently on her bed. "Okay. Talk."

"Bossy." Robin muttered, a teasing smile on his face that didn't dissipate even as the redheaded woman continued to glare at him. "Zelena, you need to stop avoiding Marian." He told her bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Zelena asked, her eyes widening in surprise. She hadn't exactly known what she was expecting when she'd opened her eyes and realized that Robin Swan had snuck into her bedroom through the window like a thief in broad daylight, but she was having a difficult time understanding what he'd just said.

"You're avoiding Marian and you need to stop doing that." Robin continued. He'd noticed the confused look on Zelena's face, and he had every intention of explaining his thought process to her, but he hadn't taken the time to outline exactly what it was he wanted to get across to her, so he was winging it. "Look, Zee, I know I'm probably the last person you want to talk about Marian with-"

"Yes, you are." Zelena agreed, not caring that she'd interrupted him. "Robin, we haven't spoken in years, yet you thought it was a good idea to barge into my house uninvited-"

"Technically speaking, Regina invited me into your house." Robin calmly corrected her, not at all bothered by the woman's outburst. "And I didn't barge in, I climbed in through your window… which she made sure was unlocked, so… I was invited."

"Fucking typical." Zelena ground out through clenched teeth as she crossed her arms.

"Can I continue, or are you going to keep interrupting me?" Robin asked with a hint of amusement.

"You can continue, but I give you no guarantee that I won't interrupt you if you say something stupid." Zelena told him matter-of-factly.

"Fair enough." Robin agreed with a nod of his head, a smile fighting to break through as he avoided meeting Zelena's gaze. "I'll be honest, I didn't really plan out what I was going to say if I managed to get you to agree to talk to me-"

"Not surprising."

Robin resisted the urge to roll his eyes and continued. "But, I do know that there are certain subjects that we won't be able to ignore, the most important one being Marian." He told her as he brought his gaze up to meet hers. "Look, I know that you guys didn't end on the best of terms-"

"How do you know that?"

"Well, it wasn't too hard to figure out." He answered honestly with a shrug of his shoulders. "I could see how much it bothered Marian that you'd moved to New York with Regina without saying a word so soon after Roland was born..." He scratched at his beard, a contemplative expression on his face as he considered just how much he was going to tell her during this conversation. "I asked her about you a few times in the beginning, but she never answered me no matter how I tried to broach the subject, so eventually… I stopped."

Zelena had been paying close attention to Robin as he spoke, watching his gestures carefully and wondering how he could possibly seem so calm when she felt as though her heart were ready to burst through her ribcage if she didn't get her emotions under control. She'd taken to clenching and unclenching her fists as they sat in her lap, not wanting to give him the chance to see how much his words were affecting her. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I watched Marian go through the motions. I watched as she struggled to make herself smile, to make herself believe that she was genuinely happy with everything when she knew she wasn't, when I knew she wasn't." Robin told her with a shrug that wasn't as nonchalant as he tried to pass off. "Why are you avoiding her?" Robin asked her after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"I'm not avoiding anyone." Zelena responded somewhat defensively.

"That's not what I've been told."

"Well, I don't know who's been telling you anything, but-"

"Emma, Regina-"

"Our little sisters are both being stupid. They have no right to-"

"And Marian." Robin continued undeterred, smiling triumphantly to himself when he felt Zelena stiffen at his side, her argument dying in her throat.

"W-what?" The redheaded woman croaked out. "Marian?"

"Yep." Robin confirmed with a nod of his head. "She and I were talking about you the other day, and she mentioned how much frustrated she was because she felt like you were actively avoiding her."

"I-I'm not." Zelena argued petulantly.

"I don't know, Zelena..." Robin trailed off slightly, a smirk on his lips that he tried to hide as he scratched at his beard. "I'd usually give you the benefit of the doubt, but I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't taken it upon myself to climb through a second-story bedroom window to talk to you, this conversation wouldn't be happening." He finished with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You're not Marian." Zelena stated, wincing as she realized how moronic her words were.

Robin laughed as he looked pulled at the collar of the crew neck t-shirt he was wearing and made a point of looking everywhere the light reached. "Holy shit, you're right!" He stated.

"Funny." The redhead stated, her expression showing how unimpressed she was by his antics.

"I thought so." He said, flashing her the same boyish grin he'd shown her many times in their youth. "Seriously, Zelena, what's going on?"

"I don't think you're the right person to talk to about this..." Zelena told him hesitantly. "I mean, we're talking about the woman you love."

"No, we're talking about the women I love who happen to be in love with each other." He clarified, turning to look at her more directly and smiling gently when she met his gaze.

"Robin, I-" Zelena shook her head as tears built up in her eyes. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"I know that, Zelena." Robin quickly reassured her. "I wasn't upset with you then and I'm not upset with you now." He told her as he reached up and tenderly put his hands on her face, his eyes showing his sincerity as he wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumbs.

"But-"

"But nothing, Zelena." Robin interrupted her with a gentle smile. "Marian and I had broken up when the two of you started datin- or whatever it is you want to call what you were doing." He laughed lightly as he saw the redhead roll her eyes at him.

"You still had feelings for her." Zelena reminded him.

"Yes, I did." Robin agreed.

"We kept putting off telling you because we were terrified…we didn't know how you'd react." Zelena told him quietly, her voice cracking slightly as she allowed herself to be vulnerable in front of man that she still considered to be her best friend, no matter what had happened between them or how much time had passed. "We were trying to figure out the best way to tell you everything, but then..."

"Marian found out she was pregnant." Robin continued where she'd left off. "You let Marian believe that you weren't in love with her because you were putting Roland before her... before yourself."

"I wanted Roland to have his best chance." Zelena admitted weakly.

"I understand. We were in high school, I thought I was in love with Marian and I was elated when she told me she was pregnant... I was oblivious to your feelings for her." Robin sighed, scratching at his beard roughly as he tried to get his thoughts together. "If I had known... I'd like to think I would've given you guys the opportunity to be happy, but I don't know if I would've been able to sacrifice my own happiness to do so like you were able to."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Zelena asked him after a few minutes of comfortable silence between them.

"Because I want you to understand where I'm coming from." Robin answered honestly with a shrug of his shoulders. "I will always love Marian, she's an extraordinary woman and the mother of my child, but it's obvious to me, and to her, that we're not meant to be together." He explained. "Have you gotten all of the pictures of Roland I've sent you?" He asked her, smiling when he saw her lips turn up in an involuntary smile at the mention of the small boy.

"Yes, he's absolutely beautiful, Robin."

"Yes, he is. He takes after his mother... and oddly enough after Emma." He added on as an afterthought, smiling when he heard Zelena laugh.

"He got Emma's smile." She agreed.

"Yes, and Emma never misses the opportunity to tease me about my child looking more like her than me." Robin admitted with a roll of his eyes.

"I bet."

"Are you going to stop avoiding Marian now?" Robin asked her, knowing that he couldn't let them continue to drift off topic. "I understand that you're scared-"

"I'm not scared of anything-"

"Bullshit. You're scared shitless, Zelena." Robin told her, the timber in his voice brokering no argument. "I'm not going to tell you what Marian has told me about you, about your relationship, because it's not my place to do so, but I'm going to ask that you consider her how your actions are affecting not only your own feelings, but hers too."

"Robin..." Zelena started, not knowing exactly what she wanted to say.

"I know it's not going to be easy, but you know as well as I do that it'll be worth it."

"You should say the same thing to our sisters, maybe they'll listen and finally pull their heads out of their asses ." Zelena deadpanned.

"Does that mean I've successfully convinced you to stop avoiding Marian?" Robin asked her somewhat hopefully, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Yes." The redhead reluctantly admitted. They sat in comfortable silence as Zelena let herself absorb their conversation as well as how understanding and genuinely supportive Robin was being about everything involving herself and Marian. "I've got to be honest with you... I don't understand how you can possibly be okay with all of this."

"I've seen enough heartbreak to know that I don't want to be the person standing in the way of someone else's happiness." He said sincerely.

"You're a great man, Robin." Zelena told him, honesty shining in her eyes as their gazes met and she pulled one of his hands into both of hers.

"I'd like to think that the company I kept when I was younger played a role in that." He told her, grinning as squeezed her hands tenderly with his own. "Now that we've had a chance to clear everything up between us, there's something else I'd like to talk to you about."

"I assume that by _something else_ you're actually talking about our idiotic little sisters." Zelena told him with knowing grin that widened into a bright smile when Robin winked in response. "You'd think they'd be able to figure things out for themselves without us having to meddle in their lives like we did when we were younger, but apparently not."

"Regina was heartbroken." Robin whispered solemnly.

"Emma was heartbroken too." Zelena rebutted. "But she's moved on... hasn't she?"

"Honestly?" Robin asked, continuing when the redheaded woman nodded. "I think she's managed to fool herself into thinking she has, but there's a light in her eyes since Regina returned to Storybrooke that I haven't seen in years... since the night that Marian and I dropped her off at the airport, bound for New York."

"How much do you know about what happened between them during Emma's visit?" Zelena asked him, already suspecting that they'd both become confidants for the other's sibling during the break-up.

"I know that Regina found the engagement ring that Emma was going to propose to her with. I know that she didn't think they were ready to take that step together after spending a year in a long-distance relationship that they were struggling to get through. I know that she tried talking to my sister about it, but my sister ran-"

"She didn't run. She thought she was doing what Regina wanted her to do." Zelena quickly interrupted, defending the woman who'd fallen apart in her arms after she'd left a hotel room completely heartbroken."

"I think that it's safe to say that while I know the extent of Regina's heartbreak... you know Emma's." Robin said, Zelena's reaction had been more than enough to confirm what he'd already suspected to be true. "Look, I know that you're not going to betray Emma's trust and I have no intention of breaking Regina's, but I think it'd be beneficial if we worked as a team to help them realize that they're still very much head over ass in love with each other."

"What about Lily?" Zelena asked. "Emma might still be in love with Regina, but she's in a relationship with someone else and we can't allow ourselves to forget that another heart could end up getting broken in all of this."

"You've met Lily?" Robin asked somewhat surprised.

"Yes, I did." Zelena confirmed.

"And you liked her?"

"I didn't dislike her." She told him with a shrug of her shoulders. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because I don't like her." Robin answered honestly, rushing to continue when he saw the redheaded woman's eyebrows furrow. "Look, I don't know what it is about her, I really don't... but there's something about her that rubs me the wrong way, and I was kind of hoping-"

"I'd be willing to help you figure out why you're feeling this way about her." Zelena interrupted, meeting Robin's gaze once again as he nodded his head. "Robin, I love you, you know that, but I think you're letting your prejudice cloud your judgement."

"Regina said the something similar." Robin admitted reluctantly. "Maybe I am, if you've seen Emma and Lily interacting, you must've noticed that while my sister might love her-"

"She's not in love with her." Zelena sighed. "I know, but until Emma figures it out for herself, there's nothing we can do."

"How long do you think that's going to take now that Regina is back in town?" Robin asked her curiously.

"We both know how stubborn your sister can be, and if she genuinely believes that she's in love with Lily, she's going to fight her feelings for Regina every step of the way."

"Well, we've got our work cut out for us, and you've got a woman who's waiting for you to stop avoiding for, so what do you say you get ready and we'll go out to brunch and we'll go over ideas on how to open my sister's eyes to her feelings and how you can romance my ex-wife?" Robin asked with a teasing smirk, laughing when Zelena threw her pillow at his head and got off the bed, heading into the bathroom without a word.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Happy reading!**

* * *

"How is the most adorable human being in the world doing this morning?" Regina greeted with a bright smile as she opened the front door to her house.

"Well, I didn't get nearly enough sleep as I should have last night because I kept thinking about how someone continues to avoid me, but otherwise... I'm okay." Marian answered with a smirk as Regina rolled her eyes at her, a smile teasing her lips.

"She meant me, mommy." Roland told her matter-of-factly as he made his way up the porch steps, his Marvel backpack over his shoulders and the straps in his little hands to keep it in place. "Hi, Auntie Regina!" He greeted with a dimpled smile that made his brunette godmother's heart melt.

"Hi, sweetheart." Regina said as she grabbed under his arms and lifted him to her. She planted a kiss on his cheek, smiling when he giggled at her action. "How are you doing this morning?" She asked as she rested him comfortably on her hip and stared into his eyes, making sure he knew he had her attention.

"I'm okay, but mommy was being grouchy this morning." He told her as he played with the white gold necklace around her neck, the little swan held delicately in his hand.

"I was not!" Marian said indignantly.

"Yes, you were." Roland told her knowing. "But it's okay, mommy. Daddy says we all have our days." He told her with an understanding smile that made him seem so much older, so much wiser than the 5-year-old boy he was.

Regina held back her laughter, her eyes bright with pride as she gently put her godson on the porch. "Sweetheart, why don't you go inside and set the living room up with your things while I talk to your mommy for a few minutes?"

"Okay." He answered simply with a shrug of his shoulders as he grabbed the straps on his backpack again and walked confidently into the house. "Bye, mommy!" He yelled out as the door started closing behind him.

"Unbelievable." Marian muttered out as she watched the door clicked shut. "You haven't even been back a week?! How is it possible that you've already become his favorite?!" She exclaimed.

"I'm not his only favorite." Regina reminded her with a smirk that turned into an involuntary smile as she thought about the boy's blonde godmother and how naturally the two had interacted with each other at In Rusty Armor.

"Okay, I've got to ask you something..." Marian told her somewhat hesitantly.

"Is it about my sister?" Regina asked her, already knowing the answer.

"And my ex-husband." Marian answered with a nod.

"What does Robin have to do with any-" Regina started in surprise, only to remember the text messages she'd exchanged with him last night and how she'd snuck into Zelena's room to unlock the sleeping woman's window. "You saw him climbing into the second-story window, didn't you?" She asked with a sigh.

"What's going on, Regina?" Marian asked her as she placed her hands on her hips, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

"Wait, that happened well over two hours ago... how did you even know-"

"I saw him when I was jogging around the neighborhood earlier this morning." Marian quickly interrupted.

"Oh, I didn't know you came into my neighborhood to jog in the mornings when you have your own." Regina said teasingly.

"I wanted to see your sister." Marian mumbled out sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you..."

"God... you're so annoying. I wanted to see Zelena, Regina." Marian exclaimed petulantly. "Now, answer my question."

"I don't know the specifics, but I do know that he wanted to talk to Zelena..." Regina told her somewhat reluctant to betray Robin's trust by oversharing with Marian. "He means well."

"Well, where are they now?" Marian asked, the cogs turning in her head as she tried to imagine how that conversation between Robin and Zelena could've possibly gone.

"Robin is at In Rusty Armor, working with Emma on getting the renovations and necessary demolition started since you took care of getting the paperwork ready and everything has now been signed." Regina told her matter-of-factly.

"And Zelena?" Marian asked somewhat impatient to know where the redheaded woman was.

"Oh, Zelena is taking Kathryn to lunch and then showing her around Storybrooke." Regina told her, pressing her lips together to keep herself from laughing out loud at the sour look that appeared on Marian's face the moment she mentioned that her sister was spending time with her personal assistant.

"Kathryn?" Marian asked, her voice teetering on the edge between genuine curiosity and jealousy.

"Relax, Marian." Regina said. "Kathryn is my personal assistant. She and Zelena have become good friends in the last few years. There's no need for you to worry about that though because that's all they are."

"I wasn't worrying." Marian stated defensively, only to roll her eyes at herself as the tension slowly eased out of her shoulders.

"Whatever you say." Regina responded with a smirk. "But seriously, Marian. I know that it's not easy, but you've got to be patient. Zelena will come around, and honestly, I think her talk with Robin might've been the push she needed to talk to you."

"Fine..." Marian groaned. "When are you going to talk to Emma?"

"Well, I'll probably be going into In Rusty Armor sometime today to see how she and Robin are doing with everything-"

"That's not what I meant, Regina."

"Yeah, I know." The brunette sighed. "I don't know when I'll get the chance to talk to her... I don't think it's a good idea to do so if I'm being completely honest."

"Why not?"

"Because she has someone- she's with someone." Regina said, her words getting caught in her throat. "She's moved on. She's happy... there's no point in bringing up our relationship because it's in the past."

"And you're okay with it?" Marian asked, her eyes watching Regina as the other woman pointedly avoided her gaze as she wrapped her arms protectively around herself.

"It doesn't matter if I'm okay with it or not." Regina answered solemnly. "The only thing that matters to me is that she's happy."

* * *

"What else are we going to do today, Auntie Regina?" Roland asked cheerfully as he walked hand in hand with his godmother down Main Street, a half-eaten ice cream cone in his hand and chocolate smeared around his mouth.

"Well, I was thinking that we would stop by In Rusty Armor and see how your daddy and Auntie Emma are coming along with the renovations." Regina told him as she stopped them on the corner of the street, waiting until the crosswalk light turned on before leading them both across the street to where men could be seen walking in and out of the vacant location with hard hats on. She tightened her grip on the plastic bags she was carrying in her other hand, the old-fashioned sodas she'd gotten for the Swan siblings shuffling slightly against the lunches she'd bought them at Granny's. "They've both been working very hard and they deserve a break, don't you think?" She asked him, smiling when she looked down and saw him nodding his head at her enthusiastically.

She nodded her head in thanks to the man who held the door open for them. "Thank you." She said with a smile as he kindly warned them to steer clear on the left side of the store to avoid getting herself or the small boy hurt. "Okay, sweetheart, let's find your daddy."

"And Auntie Emma!" Roland reminded her with a dimpled smile that reminded the brunette woman so much of her ex-girlfriend's smile.

"It's too late, Rolo!" They both heard an excited voice exclaim behind them. "I found you first!" Emma said as she grabbed the little boy from behind and lifted him up into the air, laughing as he shrieked gleefully.

"Auntie Emma!" He managed to get out between giggles. "You're going to make me drop my ice cream cone!" He warned her as melted chocolate started dropping down his hand from what was left of the treat his brunette godmother had bought him.

Regina shook her head, trying and failing to hide her amusement as she watched their interaction. She rolled her eyes playfully as she walked over to table they'd temporarily placed on the right side and placed the plastic bags she was carrying down before going into her purse and grabbing the wet wipes she'd bought earlier. She opened the pack and pulled out a wipe as she made her way over to the still laughing pair.

"Ew, Rolo!" Emma said as she kept her nephew at a distance as he held his chocolate-covered hand, the ice cream cone now gone, as close to her black tank top as he could. "The only other person I know who gets anywhere near as messy while eating an ice cream cone is your mommy!"

"Sweetheart, please stop trying to get your Auntie Emma dirty." Regina stated calmly as the blonde stopped trying to dodge the little boy's hand at the sound of the brunette's voice. "And Emma, please stop acting like a child and put our godson down so that I can get him cleaned up." She said, a teasing glint in her eyes as she watched the other woman carefully set the boy down and take a step back as Regina knelt at eye level and started to gently remove the dried-up ice cream from Roland's face.

Emma's eyes were immediately glued to the brunette pair as Roland closed his eyes and held up his face, patiently waiting as Regina wiped at him clean, a giggle escaping his lips as she muttered something only he could hear. The blonde's lips turned up in an involuntary smile as she heard Regina's light laughter join their godson's giggling. She was mesmerized by the sight of the brunette's happiness, much liked she'd always been mesmerized by anything involving her ex-girlfriend in their youth.

"Let me see your hands." Regina told the little boy as she grabbed another wipe out of the packet and started cleaning one of his hands, quickly switching to the other after she'd grabbed yet another wipe. "There we go! I knew there was an adorable little boy hiding under all of that grime."

"It wasn't grime, Auntie Regina. It was chocolate." Roland corrected her matter-of-factly as he watched her work, looking up when he heard an amused snort, his eyebrows furrowing as watched his blonde godmother smiling at her work boots. "Auntie Emma, why are you smiling at your boots?" He asked her, unable to contain his curiosity at the woman's odd actions.

"Huh?" Emma asked somewhat stupidly as she looked up, her gaze meeting Regina's amused eyes.

"He asked you why you were smiling like a loon while staring at your boots, Em." Robin said as he walked up to the group, breaking through her Regina-induced haze. She turned to her right and was met with an all-too-knowing gaze in her brother's eyes and she couldn't help but roll her own. "Regina, it's lovely to see you as always and you brought my boy!" He said with a smile as he walked up to the brunette, helping her up and pulling her into a warm hug.

"We brought you lunch!" Roland piped up happily as he looked up at his dad and Auntie Regina.

"You brought your daddy lunch?" Emma asked, a pout appearing on her lips as she walked up to Roland and knelt beside him, lowering her voice slightly and speaking in a stage-whisper. "Where's my lunch, Rolo?"

"It's in the same bag as daddy's!" The little boy told her as he held extended his arm, his index finger pointing in the direction of the plastic bags that held their lunches. "We brought you a grilled cheese sandwich!"

"You did?!" Emma asked, genuinely surprised yet unable to contain her childlike excitement at the news.

"Yep!" Roland answered with a nod and a proud smile. "Auntie Regina even made sure we got you onion rings!"

"She did?!" Emma asked, her eyes widening as she looked up to meet the brunette's gaze, only to watch as the other woman pointedly ignored her and continued nodding along to whatever her brother was saying. The blonde turned back to Roland, smiling gently at him when she saw his eyebrows furrowed in confusion at her. "I love onion rings."

"We know!" His gleeful smile returning as he leaned in closer and lowered his voice so only she could hear. "And I didn't even have to tell her! She already knew!" He told her in an excited whisper.

"Is that a hamburger I smell?" Robin asked, interrupting Emma's thoughts that had inevitably drifted to what Regina's gesture could possibly mean.

"Actually, it's a bacon double cheeseburger with the works and a side of garlic parmesan fries." Regina informed him with a knowing smirk that widened into a smile that easily matched the one on Robin's face.

"You remembered?" He asked her, his eyes twinkling with boyish excitement.

Regina couldn't help but laugh as she watched him practically bouncing in place as he awaited her answer. "How could I possibly forget?" She asked him.

"You're the best!" He exclaimed as he quickly kissed her cheek then made his way over to the table and started sifting through the plastic bags, pulling out two to-go containers with an excited smile.

"Yours is the one on the bottom, Robin!" Regina told him from where she stood. "And your cream soda is in one of the small brown paper bags. Emma's root beer is in the other one!" She added in as an afterthought as she looked down, slightly surprised when she saw vibrant green eyes staring intently into her own. She cleared her throat and quickly looked away, her hands picking at the imaginary lint on her blue jeans. "Your food is getting cold." She said, her gaze meeting Emma's again once she'd managed to recollect her thoughts. "You should go eat."

"Uh, yeah..." Emma answered as she lifted herself up from where she'd been kneeling on the floor. "Thanks for bringing us lunch, Regina." She said sincerely, making sure to meet the other woman's gaze, her eyes shining with gratitude, before turning away and walking to where her brother stood stuffing his face with fries. "Breathe, Robin. Your food isn't going anywhere." She said as she got to the table and pulled her own food container out along with her bottled soda. She opened her container, smiling as she saw an extra container of Granny's homemade zesty sauce nestled amongst what looked to be a double order of onion rings. "I'm in Heaven." She muttered as she pulled one of the plastic chairs to herself and sat down, happily digging into her meal.

* * *

"I can't believe you actually climbed through her window." Emma stated with an incredulous laugh as she stood behind her brother who was knelt on the ground, taking inventory of the building's infrastructure as their employees who continued to work unperturbed around them. They'd continued working on getting their renovations started after Regina and Roland had left earlier. The Swan siblings had decided to take advantage of the spare time they had at the beginning of their week to get a head start on Regina's store. "Actually, no… I can believe that. What I can't believe is that she didn't punch you in the face the moment you woke her up."

"Honestly, I still can't believe she didn't myself." Robin said as he got up and turned his attention to the wall that they were planning to tear down. "We still have to talk to Regina about this wall." He told her.

"I doubt she's going to mind once we show her the floor plan we came up with." Emma told him with a smile.

"It's the floor plan you came up with, Emma." Robin reminded her. "She's going to love it. Between the color scheme you guys chose, the furnishing, and the remodeling—this is going to be the best clothing store in town." He told her with a proud smile.

"We live in Storybrooke, Robin… that's not a difficult task." Emma told him with a smirk, laughing when her brother looked at her with an unimpressed expression. "I'm sorry." The blonde said her eyes twinkling with mirth.

"No, you're not." Robin snorted. They continued their walk through with a companionable silence between them, the only noise being their employees completing their tasks around the building… until Robin decided to break through the silence. "You're going to have to talk to Regina eventually." Robin couldn't help but sing-song.

"We were talking less than 30 minutes ago, Robin." Emma reminded him with a roll of her eyes. He was getting on her last nerve with all the knowing looks and smirks that he'd been throwing in her direction since they'd had lunch.

"Talking about business and your shared godson isn't talking, Emma." Robin told her as he grabbed the pencil he had tucked behind his ear and scribbled something onto the legal pad he'd been holding. "We're going to have to replace some of the switches in that box after we've finished our inspection." He told her matter-of-factly as he closed the box and continued taking inventory.

"We'll have John double-check the wiring to make sure Regina won't have to deal with any short-circuiting." Emma replied as she scribbled something into her own legal pad. "And why are you so adamant about trying to get me to talk to Regina?" She asked him, not bothering to look up to meet his eyes as she continued to stare at the pad as her hand holding her pencil stayed where she'd placed a period.

"I thought you were already talking to her." Robin stated teasingly. "Emma, there are a lot of things that remain unsaid between you two."

"I'm in a relationship with someone." Emma reminded him tersely.

"That doesn't mean that you can't clear the air with Regina." Robin said exasperatedly. "We all know that Regina is more than an ex-girlfriend. She was already your best friend before you started dating, and while that non-exclusive bullshit the two of you tried to pull your sophomore year almost destroyed your relationship completely-"

"Why would you even bring that up?!" Emma exclaimed in annoyance.

"I brought it up to remind you that you can be a bit of an idiot." Robin stated as he dropped his legal pad onto portable desk they'd had their employees set up earlier that morning. "Not talking to Regina will only make you that much more idiotic."

"It's not that easy, Robin." Emma gritted out in irritation, her defenses rising as she glared up at her big brother.

"I didn't say it was, Emma." Robin told her with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "But there's no denying that there's a part of you that wants Regina back in your life, and that's why we're here now." He told her as he extended his arms and took in their surroundings. "We're renovating the building that you'd already decided you were going to turn into your recording studio and turning it into a store that'll proudly display your ex-girlfriend's clothing brand."

"I don't want to talk about this right now." Emma told him her voice sounding weaker than she would've allowed it to if she'd been talking to someone she didn't trust enough to be vulnerable around.

"Okay." Robin acknowledged, his heart aching as he heard the sadness in his sister's voice. He knew what she was thinking and he wanted nothing more than to reassure her that she was anything but weak, but he knew that he couldn't push her any more than he had. His sister was stubborn, he knew that, but she wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination. She'd eventually come to understand her feelings enough to stop lying to herself about them.


	17. Carry On

**Author's Note: I know I've been MIA more often than not, but I've had a lot of things going on and it's gotten difficult for me to sit down and write, but that doesn't mean I've given up on this story, so to those of you who have stuck around, my sincerest gratitude to you all. I did rename the story too, so I apologize if it might've confused any of you. This chapter is pretty Marian/Zelena heavy, but I really wanted these two women to talk, and well... they talk. Happy reading!**

* * *

Regina couldn't help but smile as she thought about the day she'd had in the company of her godson. They'd spent a few hours at her house, leaving shortly before she knew that Kathryn and Zelena were due to come back, knowing that her big sister wouldn't want to be caught off guard and unprepared when she met the little boy in-person for the first time. She could only hope that the conversation that Robin had had with the stubborn redheaded woman had helped steer her in the right direction and that she'd give herself and Marian, the opportunity to clear the air between them and see where they stood after everything that had happened between them.

Regina sighed at she thought about how stilted her interactions with her own ex-girlfriend were, and she couldn't bring herself to begrudge her sister for being so hesitant to interact with the woman she'd once loved. Still loved, the brunette mentally corrected herself. She knew Zelena well enough to know that the other woman's feelings for her best friend hadn't dissipated in the slightest, no matter how many women she'd passed the time with while they were living in New York, or how many times she vehemently tried to claim otherwise. Zelena was as in love with Marian as Regina was with Emma, and while someone who didn't know them well enough could easily believe that they'd succeeded in moving on, the Mills Sisters knew in their hearts that they'd never be able to stop when it came to the women they loved.

"We come bearing gifts!" Zelena exclaimed as she threw the front door open and walked into the house, struggling slightly with the armful of bags she was carrying when they got stuck as she made her way over the threshold. Kathryn walked in behind her with an amused expression on her face as she carefully made her way into the house behind the redheaded woman, carrying the same amount if not more bags with practiced ease.

"Those bags are all full of things you bought for yourself, aren't they?" Regina asked with an unamused expression as she watched her sister walk into their dining room and haphzardly throw all of her bags on the table. "Be careful, Zelena!" She exclaimed as Kathryn walked into the living room and carefully left the bags she'd been carrying at the foot of the couch.

"Hey Regina." Kathryn sighed out, dropping next to Regina on the couch in exhaustion. She closed her eyes and did her best to toe her sneakers off as she allowed herself to start relaxing after the grueling day she'd had trailing behind Zelena.

"Oh, are you tired?" Regina asked Kathyrn knowingly, a small smirk teasing at her lips as she took in the sight of the exhausted woman. "Zelena, what did I tell you about breaking my personal assistant?" She asked, directing her gaze to her sister who had stopped rumaging through her mountain of bags the moment she heard her name uttered.

"Uh... not to?" Zelena asked with a smirk of her own. "She's not broken, Regina. There's no need to be so dramatic. She'll be good as new as soon as she gets a good night's rest. Sleeping in should be more than enough to recharge her batteries."

"She's not supposed to be sleeping in, or have you forgotten that we're supposed to meet with Emma and Robin at In Rusty Armor to go over the details of the renovations in the morning?"

"Oh, shit." Kathryn muttered under her breath as she realized she'd forgotten about that meeting herself.

"Oops. I'm sorry, Regina." Zelena said, not really sounding apologetic at all. "But hey, either way Kathryn will be in for a big treat tomorrow, so I'm sure she'll survive." She continued with a smile that immediately raised her little sister's hackles.

"What are you talking about?" Regina asked as she crossed her arms, her shoulders tensing slightly, not at all happy about the knowing look in her sister's eyes and the widening smile that was playing on her lips.

"We both know that she'll have the pleasure of seeing Emma Swan in all of her gorgeous glory tomorrow morning!" The redhead exclaimed with a laugh, not at all perturbed by the glare that her sister was already throwing in her direction. "Oh, come on, Regina. There's no need to get so testy... there's no denying that that woman is a work of art. Who wouldn't want to be wrapped up tightly in Emma's muscular-"

"Zelena!" Regina growled out, not at all happy to hear anyone, least of all her sister, taking about her ex-girlfriend that way.

"Oh, calm down, Reggie. I'm not objectifying Emma, okay, maybe I am, but only a little bit, so I suggest you keep your fists unclenched at your sides and you work on releasing some of the tension that you've already started to let build up in your shoulders." Zelena said with an exasperated sigh. "Your ex-girlfriend is attractive, very attractive, and your personal assistant was bound to notice that all on her own sooner or later."

"Zelena." Regina growled warningly.

"You're right." Zelena started, a smirk growing on her lips as she met Regina's annoyed gaze. "It'll definitely be sooner." She said with a subtle wink thrown in Kathryn's direction.

Kathryn quickly averted her gaze and bit her bottom lip to suppress a laugh, knowing better than to get in the middle of an argument between the Mills Sisters, no matter how tempting it might be to egg them on.

* * *

Zelena couldn't help but groan as she threw herself heavily onto her bed, the headboard smacking lightly against the wall as she did so. There was no denying that she'd had a long day and she wanted nothing more than to get some well-deserved rest, but she knew that she wouldn't really be able to do that until she bit the bullet and stopped avoiding her ex-girl- Marian.

To say that she'd been surprised to see Robin that morning would be the understatement of the century, but to have him seek her out so that they could talk, showing how aware of her feelings he was and how willing he'd been to listen to her, to understand her, and to offer her his unwavering support... it had left her with a sense of confusion that she'd been unable to rid herself of no matter how many times he'd reassuringly reminded her that he not only wanted her to talk to Marian, but that he was more than willing to help her in whatever way he could.

He'd readily suggested to her that she go to Marian because his ex-wife had already caught on to the fact that she'd been actively avoiding her, subtlety wasn't really her strong suit, Robin had been quick to remind her. He told her that while Marian was trying to give her the space she so obviously needed to work through her shit, eloquent as always, she was growing impatient and if she continued to put their talk off, Marian would surely come looking for her.

She'd already known that she shouldn't let herself go another day without trying to wrong her mistakes and explain herself to Marian, but Robin's words had given her the push she needed.

"I can't say I'm not surprised to see that you haven't suffocated yourself yet with how you've been pressing your face into your pillow like that." A voice said from behind her, causing an involuntary scream to leave her lips as she whipped her head up and looked in the direction that the voice had come from. "You should've probably made sure your window was locked after what happened this morning." Marian continued matter-of-factly, her lips twitching slightly with the hints of a smile, a movement the redheaded woman would've surely missed if she wasn't as keenly aware of her actions as she'd always been.

"Marian?" Zelena asked somewhat disbelievingly, wincing inwardly as she realized how stupid she must've sounded to the other woman as she continued to splutter incomplete sentences. "What, uh- what are you doing- how did you get in here?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you." Marian answered matter-of-factly, taking a deep breath before she continued with her explanation. "I know that I shouldn't have been waiting to ambush you in your room, but I couldn't quite help myself. Regina told me that I should wait, that you'd come and talk to me whenever you were ready, but you've been actively avoiding me since you guys came back to Storybrooke and I couldn't really take not seeing you, not talking to you, any longer." Marian finished off, the calm composure that she'd held on so tightly to slipping quickly through her fingertips as she met Zelena's gaze. "So... I might've climbed in through your window." She admitted somewhat sheepishly.

"You climbed in through my wind- Marian, this is a two-story house!" Zelena exclaimed suddenly as she struggled to process everything the other woman had said. "You could've gotten yourself hurt!" She said, eyes scanning over Marian, her eyebrows furrowing in concern and her hands clenching at her sides as she struggled to keep herself from reaching out for her. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking that if my ex-husband can do it, so can I." Marian huffed out in annoyance as she crossed her arms over her chest and met Zelena's gaze with her own, defiance shining brightly in her eyes even as her heart started beating rapidly in her chest as she allowed herself to relish in the other woman's concern for her well-being.

"Seriously?" Zelena asked incredulously. "You're going to try to compare your safety to Robin-" She started to argue, only to cut herself off as she really thought about what Marian had said. "Wait, how did you know that Robin climbed in through my window?" She asked, the earlier shock of finding her ex-whatever in her room long gone.

"I saw him." Marian admitted matter-of-factly as she tightened her crossed arms around herself somewhat defensively.

"You saw him." Zelena repeated incredulously.

"Yeah." Marian said with a shrug of her shoulders, trying to act nonchalant as her eyes skimmed around Zelena's room, taking in the simple decor as she pointedly avoided Zelena's gaze.

"How?"

"I happened to be in the neighborhood when he was scaling your house." Marian said somewhat uncomfortably.

"Marian." Zelena stated, suspecting that she already understood what the other woman words truly meant, but wanting to hear her say them nonetheless.

"I was coming to talk to you this morning." Marian admitted, her arms unwinding from their previous position as her shoulders came up in an exasperated shrug. "I was going to try to get you to talk to me like the adults we are supposed to be... I should've known I'd have to take a more childish approach to get your attention."

"Rude." Zelena murmured to herself, unable to keep herself from smirking when she saw Marian roll her eyes. "But you're right." She sighed. "I've been avoiding you since I got back-"

"No shit." Marian interrupted with a humorless laugh.

"Were you planning to let me talk at all, or are you just going to continue to interrupt me?"

"Whoops." Marian said, shrugging her shoulders unapologetically as she tried to suppress a smirk. "Please, continue."

"Marian, I shouldn't have left Storybrooke the way that I did, but I honestly thought I was doing to right thing at the time." Zelena admitted, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes when she heard the other woman's scoff. "Robin was- is -one of my best friends, and I'd developed feelings for the woman he loved, the woman who was the mother to his child, and I thought it'd be better if I walked away... I didn't think about how my actions could hurt others. I swear to you that I didn't want that. It was never my intention to hurt anyone, least of all you."

"You could've- no, you should've talked to me about it, you know. You shouldn't have taken it upon yourself to make a decision on something that wouldn't only have an impact on you, but those around you." Marian took a deep breath, a flash of anger in her eyes followed closely by a sadness that threatened to consume her whole as she found herself thinking back to the day she'd realized that Zelena had left for New York with Regina, back to the weeks, back to the months that had followed and how much the other woman's absence had affected her.

"Marian," Zelena started, her voice cracking slightly despite her best attempts to keep her composure. "I never meant to hurt you."

Marian laughed humorlessly. "I think the fact that I know that is what's always weighed the heaviest in my mind... knowing that is what's hurt me the most, ironically enough." She said. She shook her head slightly as she tried to keep the tears that were building in her eyes at bay. "I knew then, and I know it now, that you would never purposely do anything to hurt me, to hurt anyone, but it doesn't change the fact that that's exactly what happened, more so because you left town without saying a word. Didn't you think we deserve a goodbye? Didn't you think that maybe I deserved one?" She asked, upset with herself by how broken she sounded to her own ears.

Zelena took a shaky breath. She'd known that this conversation between herself and Marian wouldn't be an easy one, but she had hoped that they'd both be able to keep their emotions under control while they spoke. I shouldn't have been so hopeful, she couldn't help but thing to herself as she watched the woman she loved pointedly avoid her gaze. She swallowed heavily, preparing to defend herself while knowing deep down that she'd made the biggest mistake of her life the day she'd chosen to walk away from her, from all their friends, without a word. "Marian-"

"Were you ever in love with me?" Marian asked, interrupting her in a voice so quiet that Zelena wasn't sure she'd spoken until their eyes met and she easily saw the questioning look in the other woman's eyes. Marian cleared her throat, the strength and volume quickly returning to her voice. "I would understand if you weren't at that point yet. I mean, we were young and immature, so I wouldn't even consider holding it against you if you didn't- if you weren't-"

"Yes, I was very much in love." Zelena interrupted resolutely. "But-"

"But what?!" Marian asked, uncaring about how desperate she sounded to her own hears in that moment. Her emotions had gotten the better of her because she'd longed to know how much Zelena had truly felt for her back then and now that she finally knew, she was overwhelmed by her own feelings. "I was in love with you then, and I'm still so very much in love with you now, Zelena. Without any buts!" She blurted out, ignoring how her heart hammered almost painfully in her chest. She took a deep breath to calm herself down a bit before she continued. "Why is it that you still can't be completely honest with me about your feelings, Zelena?"

 _"You're going to have to be honest with her. You're going to have to be honest with yourself. You can't keep running from your feelings, or you're going to lose her." Robin said, sincerity in his eyes and an understanding smile playing on his lips as he watched the inner turmoil churning in her vibrant blue eyes._

"How do you know I haven't lost her already?" She asked him. She couldn't keep her curiosity at bay, but she also couldn't help but feel some trepidation as she waited to hear his answer.

Robin smiled slightly to himself. He wouldn't go as far as to tell Zelena exactly how he knew that she hadn't lost Marian because that would mean admitting the extent of Marian's feelings to the redheaded woman. He vehemently refused to break the trust that held so strongly between himself and the mother of his child, but that didn't mean he was unwilling to give one of his best friends a push in the right direction. "Because we don't readily give up on the ones we love. Be honest, Zelena."

Those had been Robin's words to her while they'd been talking amongst themselves while they ate. He'd been so patient, so understanding while they spoke, and she'd allowed herself to be honest with him in ways that she hadn't been brave enough to be with him when they were younger. He'd given her advice, reminding her and making sure she understood that he wasn't trying to tell her what to do, but that he also hoped she'd be willing to take his suggestions to heart.

Zelena's thoughts were interrupted by her phone vibrating in her back pocket. She pulled her phone out and looked at the screen, a small smile tugged on her lips as she saw the texts that Regina had sent her in quick succession.

 **R: Kathryn and I can hear loud, muffled voices coming from your bedroom.**

 **R: Did Robin sneak in through your window again?**

 **R: Are you okay?**

 **Zelena smiled slightly to herself as she quickly typed out a reply.**

 **Z: No, Robin didn't sneak in through my window again, but Marian wanted to talk, so she... she's here..**

 **Z: We're okay.**

"Regina?" Marian asked, already knowing the answer as she took in the twinkle in Zelena's eyes as she watched her slip her phone back into her pocket.

"Regina." Zelena confirmed with a nod. "She and Kathryn started getting worried when they heard our muffled voices downstairs." She explained before letting he mind drift slightly, she knew she'd have to thank her younger sister and Kathryn for taking the time to send her a few text messages to make sure that she was okay, but she had more pressing matters to attend to now.

"Zelena?" Marian said, her voice gentle as her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I thought I'd already lost you." Zelena said, her eyes slightly unfocused as she looked up to meet Marian's confused, yet obviously concerned gaze. She blinked rapidly, and she felt the fog in her mind begin to clear. "When I left Storybrooke with Regina, I thought I'd already lost you." She repeated, her voice gaining strength as she straightened up slightly. When did I sit down? She asked herself before shaking her head and allowing herself to be honest about her feelings. "You'd moved into the Swan household so that Robin, Emma, and their parents could help you with Roland. I'd already been avoiding you, not too much, or so that's what I'd thought until the day that Emma cornered me and practically demanded that I stop being so stupid about the whole situation." Zelena couldn't help but roll her eyes fondly at the memory, a small smile playing on her lips for a few seconds before she cleared her throat and redirected her attention to the conversation at hand. "I'd uh- I'd had a stuffed animal custom-made for Roland. It wasn't anything overly special, and honestly, I wouldn't be able to tell you what happened to it, but it was a monkey-"

"Dressed in a royal blue soccer kit, white lettering. It matches Emma's high school varsity uniform perfectly, the only difference being that Roland's name is proudly displayed above the 3 instead of Emma's." Marian finished for her, an amused smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she took in the awestruck look on Zelena's face.

"H-how did you know all of that?" Zelena asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She would've remembered if she'd ever shown Marian the stuffed animal, or told her of her intentions to give it to Roland. She'd only shared the details of her gift with Regina, she was sure of it.

"Emmett." Marian answered with a shrug of her shoulders, not caring to elaborate further.

"Who's Emmett?"

"Roland saw a picture of his favorite aunt, and godmother, wearing a uniform that was strikingly like the one worn by his monkey. He already knew his middle name was Emmett and that he'd been named after Emma, so understandably, he wanted his favorite toy to share their name." Marian explained.

"How did he-" Zelena sighed deeply as she closed her eyes, thinking back to the day she'd intended to give a then 3-month-old Roland a present that she'd come to hope would one day mean the world to him as he grew into the little boy he was now. "I left it on the Swans' front porch." She said.

 _Zelena walked up the Swans' walkway, nervousness bubbling in the pit of her stomach even as a smile tugged at her lips. She carefully straightened the gift that she'd bought for Roland, making sure that everything was in place and resisting the urge to roll her eyes as she realized how little the presentation would matter to the baby._

She'd had the idea to buy the baby a present within hours of Marian telling her about her unplanned pregnancy, but it'd taken her months to decide on what to get him, and a few weeks after that to make sure that the gift met her expectations.

She walked up to the doorstep, lifting her right arm, her hand clenched in a fist read to knock gently on the front door when something in the window caught her eye. She had a direct view of the living room and she felt her heart clench painfully in her chest and the air leave her lungs as her gaze lingered on Marian's sleeping form.

Marian's eyes were closed, a serene look on her face as she held a small bundle in her arms, 3-month-old Roland, that sight alone would've been enough to melt Zelena's heart if Marian's head hadn't been resting in the crook of Robin's neck, his own eyes closed and a content smile tugging slightly at his lips, and one of his arms wrapped securely around her shoulder.

What am I doing? _She asked herself as she took in the sight of the little family, tears brimming her eyes, and the stuffed animal that she'd been holding so tightly moments before slipping from her grip without her noticing. The thump of the toy hitting the front porch didn't even register in her mind as she continued to watch for a few moments longer, knowingly torturing herself by making herself see what she could never truly be a part of, never truly have, but unable to make herself to turn away._

"I shouldn't have come here like this... I should've known this would happen eventually." She couldn't help but mutter brokenly to herself as she walked off the front porch, the toy lay forgotten where it'd fallen as she pulled out her phone, dialed her sister's number, and waited for her to answer.

"I remember that you sent me a text earlier that day to tell me you'd be stopping by to visit us later, but you never showed up." Marian said. "I didn't think too much of it when most of the day had gone by and you hadn't shown up, but I started getting worried about you when you didn't answer my calls or texts."

"There was no need to worry." Zelena told her matter-of-factly, wincing slightly when she heard Marian scoff angrily at her words.

"Obviously, I should've worried more than I did. Maybe you wouldn't have left without saying a word if I would've done more than wait for you to show!" Marian snapped angrily, her nostrils flaring as she stared at Zelena before she took a deep breath and continued more calmly. "Zelena, you were obviously at the Swans' house, but I can't understand why you wouldn't knock on the door. If you were planning on leaving with Regina, why didn't you tell me? I would've been as supportive as I've always been of you, even if knowing that I'd have to watch you go broke my heart."

"Moving to New York with my sister wasn't something I'd been considering until that day at the Swans' house, or you know, on their front porch." Zelena admitted sheepishly, pointedly avoiding Marian's gaze as she sat down by her side. "But, something caught my eye before I had the chance to knock on the door that day... and I guess I realized that I shouldn't have been there at all, so I left. I called Regina, and we'd already agreed to leave Storybrooke together before I'd even driven my car up to our house."

"Something caught your eye?" Marian was frustrated, rightfully so, she couldn't help but think to herself. She didn't understand what Zelena could've possibly seen back then that would've had a hand in getting her to move to New York without so much as a warning. "What exactly did you see, Zelena?"

"It's not import-"

"Bullshit! If it weren't something important, you would've knocked on the damn door instead of haphazardly leaving the stuffed animal you'd bought for Roland on the front porch and disappearing without a word. What did you see, Zelena?!" Marian stopped and took a deep breath as she tried to give herself a few seconds to get her emotions under some semblance of control. She hated how Zelena still had the ability to get under her skin like no one else ever could, no matter how much time they might've already been apart. "Please, tell me what it was you saw."

Zelena took a deep breath of her own, she knew how difficult it was for Marian to let her guard down like she was allowing herself to do now, and the idea of not giving her what she asked had stopped being a viable option from the very second that she'd heard Marian's voice start hitching. "I saw you sitting in the living room. You were on the couch with Roland bundled up in your arms... I can honestly say that you looked more content than I'd even seen you look before in that moment."

Marian's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not understanding how the sight of her son and herself could've possibly been what had pushed Zelena away, especially with the amount of fondness with which she spoke. "I don't understand-"

"You were sleeping, if I remember correctly. I mean, you looked too peaceful at the time not to be." Zelena continued, not allowing herself to think too much about how her words were coming out. She wasn't sure she'd be able to push herself to get through it without her emotions getting the better of her if she did. "You were both nestled comfortably in Robin's arms. You looked like a perfect family, and I guess it took me seeing that for myself in that moment to realize that I had no right to come in and disrupt what the two of you had already been building together, more so now that you shared a son... I just thought it'd be best for everyone-"

"No. You thought it'd be best for you if you just ran away." Marian interrupted, her anger flaring up again as she finally understood what had driven Zelena away so many years ago.

"I wasn't wrong to think that, was I?" Zelena asked, her own frustration spilling over as she got up and started pacing around her bedroom while Marian remained seated on her bed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Marian asked as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared up at Zelena, her eyes following the redheaded woman's path as she continued to pace in front of her.

"You married Robin!" Zelena gritted out, her voice involuntarily hitching as she spoke. "Am I really supposed to believe that my presence in your lives wouldn't have caused you more problems than I was worth?!"

"How could you possibly think that your presence in my life, in all of our lives, would've caused any problems?!" Marian asked as she stood up, her fists clenched at her sides as she struggled to get a grip on her anger. "Who the hell do you think you to assume how much I think you're worth?! Did you ever stop to think that you were merely making assumptions about what was going on between me and Robin at the time? No, you were too busy skipping town without saying a goddamn word!"

"Look, Marian... I know what I saw-"

"No, you think you know what you saw." Marian scoffed out, pointedly ignoring the glare that Zelena sent in her direction. "You should've asked me about whatever it was you thought you saw. Do you honestly think that I wouldn't talk to you about it? Did you think so little of me that you were expecting me to lie to you if you asked me for the truth?"

"Oh, it's hardly fair for you to ask me that and you know it." Zelena said stubbornly.

"Bullshit." Marian deadpanned. She took a deep breath, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before she continued. "I think you've forgotten who you're talking to. I know you better than that, Zelena, and you were afraid of hearing the truth simply because you'd already assumed the worst to be true, so you ran away."

Zelena bowed her head unable to deny Marian's statement, but not yet ready to give in. "Fine." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. "What was it I saw?"

Marian resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "You saw two people co-parenting their 3-month-old son." She stated simply.

"Seriously?" Zelena scoffed.

"Yes, seriously, Zelena." Marian scoffed back. "Roland hadn't been sleeping through the night, and we were all still trying to get our bearings with him in the house. Robin, Emma, and I were the only ones there, and as helpful as Emma had been to us, we knew that she wanted to spend as much time with Regina as she possibly could before she left for New York, so we were trying to handle everything on our own. It'd been a difficult night, a difficult week actually, and we were exhausted."

"Okay, Marian… I get it, you don't have to keep going." Zelena sighed. She'd already understood what Marian was getting to and she already felt so stupid for how quickly she'd jumped to conclusions. Marian was right, she shouldn't have left their hometown without saying a word, she should've talked to her and given her the chance to explain everything. She had no doubt in her mind that if she'd spoken to her that day instead of running away, Marian would've easily convinced her to stay. "I should've knocked on the front door that day… I'm sorry."

"You do know that one **I'm sorry** isn't going to cut it, don't you?" Marian asked.

"I know, Marian, but I don't know what else to say to you right now." Zelena told her. "I made a mistake, I know that, and I understand how badly that hurt you because I've felt the pain of my departure every day since I stepped off that front porch knowing that I wasn't coming back, but so much time has passed that I don't even know where to begin to fix everything. I don't even know if you'd even want me to try."

"Zelena…" Marian walked up to her, grabbing both of Zelena's hands with her own as she met her gaze. "I want you to try. I want you to try more than anything, but I need you to understand that you're not the only one that must try. I want to try too."

"Really?" Zelena asked, her eyes getting teary, as she struggled to keep her composure. "Why?"

"What do you mean, **why**?" Marian asked with an incredulous laugh, letting go of Zelena's hands, gently cupping her cheeks instead as a warm smile played on her lips. "Because I love you. Because I know how it feels to lose you, and that's not something I'm willing to go through ever again."

Zelena wrapped her arms around Marian's waist pulling her closer to her as Marian's arms wrapped gently around her neck. "God, you're so much more than I deserve." She told her as she gently brought their foreheads together, a smile on her lips that she tried and failed to contain. "But I love you and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make things right between us."

Marian pulled Zelena into a kiss, barely letting her finish her sentence before their lips were molding together again. Marian felt tears brimming in her eyes as she thought about how long it'd been since the last time she'd been in Zelena's arms. How much she'd missed the other woman's presence in her life, not only as the woman she was in love with, but as the woman who'd been her best friend, her shoulder to cry on, and the woman who'd always wanted to make her aware of how strong she truly was.

She wasn't naïve. She knew that this was only the beginning of their reconciliation, but she knew by how Zelena had allowed herself to open-up to her today, that she was willing to work through their misunderstandings and through the pain that both of their actions had caused.

"We. Still. Have. A. Lot. To. Talk. About." Zelena said between kisses, unable to completely pull herself away, a smile on her lips as she felt the same hesitancy in Marian's actions to separate as they continued to kiss.

"I know, but..." Marian hummed out. "I'm not ready to end this moment between us yet."


	18. For Blue Skies

**Author's Note: Hey everybody! It's taken me a while to be able to sit down and write, but I was given the opportunity to do so and decided to take advantage of it. I mention Light & Shadow (by Phillip Wesley) in this chapter. Happy reading!**

* * *

Emma's eyes were closed, her fingertips gliding smoothly over ivory keys as she allowed herself to get lost in her music as she played, dissolving the world around her as she listened to the story she'd written years ago, a beautiful brunette coming to mind as she always had. How could Regina Mills not come to mind when she'd written a song, an entire album, inspired by how much she'd loved her ex-girlfriend when they were teenagers in high school.

Emma had been sitting at her prized possession, her grand baby piano, since she'd gotten home from work. Her interactions with Regina and their godson still rooted deeply in her mind, and she found herself sitting at her piano, familiar notes filling the air as her mind drifted. It'd be foolish of her to pretend that Regina's reappearance in her life hadn't affected her, but she wasn't yet ready to acknowledge that fact, so she'd sat down, and she'd played, relishing instead in the familiar feeling of Light & Shadow, Regina's song, as it left her fingertips and engulfed her surroundings.

Emma still found it somewhat laughable that she was struggling to compose a second album when she'd composed her first album with so much ease. It'd gotten to the point where she found herself wondering if maybe she'd only had one album in her, the amount of time she'd spent blaming her inability to compose on writer's block grated greatly on her mind, her self-confidence suffering greatly as a result, but her she was phasing out of a song she'd started composing when she was seventeen years old, into something brand new.

She played without hesitation, her laptop recording every single note she played as she kept herself where she was, amongst thoughts of her ex-girlfriend, her girlfriend, and what her brother's knowing looks during lunch could've possibly meant.

Emma wasn't stupid. She knew that Robin wasn't Lily's biggest fan, but she'd always believed that her brother's dislike of her girlfriend had more to do with the fact that she wasn't Regina than anything else, which wouldn't be too much of a stretch considering how much happier he seemed to be since the Mills Sisters had returned to Storybrooke, but that could've easily been attributed to him wanting to see Marian happy, knowing that Zelena would have a helping hand in that...

 _"Whenever Marian and Zelena finally decide to pull their heads out of their asses and talk."_ Robin had said to her somewhat teasingly.

Emma couldn't yet bring herself to admit it out loud, she knew that she wasn't much better than Zelena when it came to her avoiding her own ex-girlfriend. While she hadn't taken to completely avoiding Regina like the plague like Zelena seemed to be doing with Marian, she'd done her part to keep their interactions to a minimum, feigning ignorance whenever she happened to catch the look in Regina's eyes that showed how much the brunette woman wanted a more genuine interaction, a conversation where they wouldn't hold back as much as they both obviously were.

Emma had known that she wouldn't be able to stay away from Regina, not completely anyway. They had way too much history between them, their family, their friends, and Lily had all known that. It's why her girlfriend hadn't discouraged her from offering the empty building her parents had given her to her ex-girlfriend, and while Emma wouldn't readily admit it, she would've offered it to Regina whether or not Lily agreed with her decision to do so, or not.

She'd jumped at the opportunity to work side by side with Regina again, especially since she knew firsthand how much In Rusty Armor meant to her after all of the years that she'd spent dedicating all of herself to building her own company from the ground up.

Emma was beyond proud of her ex-girlfriend, there was no denying that. Regina had worked non-stop to get to where she was. They'd both taken a chance on making their dreams a reality, and they'd both succeeded... mostly. Emma once again found herself trying to ignore the pang in her heart, that same pain that sprung up whenever she thought too deeply about how much they'd both ended up missing out on from each other's lives after they'd broken up. Not only had Emma walked away from her girlfriend the night she left her sleeping by herself in that hotel room, she'd walked away from her best friend too, and that realization had unfortunately left Emma with a Regina-sized hole in her heart, a hole that remained unfilled no matter how unwilling she was to admit it to herself, let alone out loud.

Emma felt a growl rip involuntarily from deep within her throat as her fingertips continued to glide over the keys, her emotions getting the better of her as she continued to play without direction, her laptop diligently recording every single note she played. It'd been far too long since she'd created anything new, anything worth listening to... years, if she were completely honest, but suddenly it was as if the floodgates had been opened and she was unwilling, unable to stop herself as her thoughts overwhelmed her. She couldn't stop thinking about Regina, and she felt guilt growing at pit of her stomach with every passing thought of her ex-girlfriend that keep appearing in her mind, all her thoughts merging together until Regina was the only thing left.

Emma's phone vibrated, interrupting her thoughts and breaking her concentration as her fingertips immediately stopped where they lay, stuck between transitioning notes. She looked at her laptop's screen, ignoring her phone as it continued to vibrate, her eyes were glued to what, how much, the software had recorded.

Emma had given into her anger, her guilt, her feelings... completely, and she'd been left feeling lighter than she had in months, maybe years. She felt like she could breathe again. Her phone stopped vibrating only to start vibrating again within a few seconds. She sighed and stretched so that she could reach her phone, grunting slightly as she wrapped her fingertips around it.

Emma felt the guilt in the pit of her stomach start anew when she saw her girlfriend's name flashing on her phone's screen, a picture of the two of them smiling into the camera in the background bringing that guilt to a boil. She quickly swiped her thumb across the screen and brought the phone up to her ear. "Hey, Lil." Emma greeted as she got up from her seat on the piano bench and started walking aimlessly around her music room. She didn't want her girlfriend to know that she'd been sitting at her grand baby piano, composing... and she didn't want to start thinking about any reasons as to why she'd want to keep that information from her.

"Hey baby, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to call you, but things have been kind of hectic at the office since I got here, and I couldn't get a moment away from all of the chaos." Lily greeted back apologetically. "But I'm home now, so I can give you all of my attention. How is everything going with In Rusty Armor? Have you started renovating yet?" She asked enthusiastically.

Emma felt the guilt clench in her stomach and release, laughter bubbling in her throat as she heard the genuine excitement and curiosity in her girlfriend's voice. "Breathe, Lil." She said teasingly. "Robin and I have officially started the renovations. There doesn't seem to be much that needs to be torn down, but we're really going to have to put ourselves into it to get the building up to code. We're having a meeting with Regina and Zelena tomorrow to see if there's anything specific they want added into the floor plan."

"That sounds great, Em!" Lily said. "I'm glad to hear that you're really getting into it."

"Thanks, babe." Emma smiled, her mind settling slightly as she let her girlfriend's voice comfort her. She missed spending time with Lily in-person, but she understood that they were both women with demanding careers and she wanted their relationship to continue to be as mutually supportive as it'd always been. "I miss you."

"I miss you too, but we'll only be apart for a few more days." She reminded her. "I'll be back in Storybrooke soon, and I'll be ready to roll my sleeves up and help with In Rusty Armor in whatever way I can."

Emma laughed, walking out of her music room and into her living room, settling onto her couch as she continued to talk to her girlfriend, listening intently as Lily start telling her all about how she'd spent her first day back in the hectic New York offices.

* * *

Regina sighed quietly to herself as she rolled her head gently from one side to the other, trying to rid herself of the tension that had built in her neck and between her shoulder blades. She'd bid Kathryn a good night earlier and retreated to her study, knowing she wouldn't be hearing from Zelena, let alone seeing her when she was finally talking to Marian upstairs. She was now sitting her desk with her desktop computer turned on, skimming through emails, trying to keep her mind off a certain blonde ex-girlfriend of hers and failing spectacularly.

Emma Swan was something else... she always had been.

"What am I doing?" Regina asked herself quietly. She abruptly closed out the email she'd been writing, making sure it'd been saved to her drafts before she closed the window and proceeded to shut her computer down. "Why did I come back?"

 _You know exactly why you came back._ Her minded reminded her, her mind running rampant as she thought about her friends, her family, coming to an abrupt stop as her thoughts drifted once again to her ex-girlfriend... her almost fiancée.

"Fuck."

* * *

Robin smiled to himself, he'd been waiting to hear the pitter-patter of his son's feet on the hardwood floor signaling that he'd woken up and was ready to start their day. He heard the creak of his door, alerting him to his son's presence and he quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep as Roland tip-toed quietly into his bedroom. "Daddy?" Roland whispered, waiting a moment before he carefully started climbing Robin's bed, intent on waking him up.

Robin struggled to suppress a smile as he felt his son's index finger start poking at the dimple on his cheek. "Daddy." Roland whispered loudly, continuing to poke at his dad's cheek as he spoke, the pokes emphasizing his every word. "We've got to go work on Auntie Regina's store!"

Robin groaned, playfully swatting his son's hand away as he turned to lay on his stomach, burying his face in his pillows and laughter bubbling up in his throat as he heard Roland grunt in annoyance. "Daddy, come on! We've got work to do!" He exclaimed loudly as he climbed onto his dad's back and started patting Robin's shoulder blades with his little hands.

"Okay, okay." Robin conceded with a laugh. "I'm up, I'm up." He said as slowly pushed himself up, smiling to himself as Roland giggled and clung to his back tightly. "How about you go get yourself ready to go while I call your Auntie Emma?"

"Okay!" He shouted excitedly as he detached himself from his dad's back, hopped off the bed, and ran out of the bedroom.

"Be careful, Roland." Robin shouted after him as he sat on his unmade bed and grabbed his phone off his nightstand. He turned the screen on, pulling up his sister's contact information, quickly pressing the call button before he placed the phone to his ear.

"Hey!" Emma spoke, surprising Robin not only with how quickly she'd answered the phone, but with how energetic she sounded so early in the morning.

"Uh... hey, Em." Robin said, lifting his phone from his ear to look at his screen, his eyes taking in his sister's name and the picture of her and Roland smiling happily into the camera. "You're awake." He said, audibly perplexed.

"Yeah, I fell asleep earlier than usual last night after talking to Lily on the phone, so I thought I'd get a head start on everything here at In Rusty Armor-"

"You're already at the store?" Robin interrupted.

"Yeah, but I haven't touched anything that we're planning to talk to Regina and Zelena about today, so you haven't really missed anything." Emma told him nonchalantly. "I wanted to get started on a special project that I've got in mind, but I'll have something drawn up and I'll be able to talk you through it by the time you get here."

"Uh, yeah... okay." Robin replied disbelievingly. "I guess I'll see you in an hour or so."

"Okay, great!" Emma said somewhat distractedly, peaking her brother's curiosity as to what exactly it was she was working on. "I've got Rolo's hard hat, his utility belt, and pancakes on standby at Granny's, so I'll see you guys soon." She said as she hung up the phone, leaving a bewildered Robin holding his phone to his ear as the call ended abruptly.

"What the hell?"

* * *

"Good morning, Regina. I see you've decided to bring your straining third button out to play." Kathryn said from where she was standing in the living room, watching in amusement as Regina continued to straighten her outfit out as if she hadn't heard her. "I've always thought it dangerous to be on the receiving end of that button, but seeing you pair that white shirt with a pair of black skinny jeans... you're obviously out for blood, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Regina stated, biting back the mischievous smirk as she avoided the knowing look Kathryn was throwing in her direction. "I'm not even wearing any heels... and good morning."

"Well, of course not, it wouldn't be nearly as sexy if you strutted into the store only to break your leg." Kathryn said with a laugh.

"Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't break my leg-"

"She's right, Kathryn, she'd merely sprain one of her ankles... maybe both." Zelena interrupted as she walked down the stairs, smiling innocently in her sister's direction as the brunette rolled her eyes and Kathryn bit back a smile of her own. "Well, aren't you looking beautiful this morning, Reggie. I absolutely love the outfit, but what's the occasion?" She asked, her smile turning into a sly smirk.

"Will Marian be joining us at Granny's this morning?" Regina asked, pointedly avoiding Zelena's question as she sat down and slipped on a pair of socks, followed by the Converse she'd chosen to wear with the rest of her outfit.

"Yes, I'll be joining you at Granny's, but not until after I've gone home to take a shower and change." Marian said as she walked down the staircase, playfully smacking Zelena on the butt as she walked by her before going to Regina and pulling her into a hug.

"Wow, it looks like you're back to using the front door instead of climbing through windows... Maybe I should talk to Emma and Robin about installing a rope ladder leading up to Zelena's bedroom to make things easier for you." Regina said as she hugged her best friend tightly to herself.

"Oh, I know you'd love to use it as an excuse to see more of my former sister-in-law in all of her sleeveless glory, but that won't be necessary." Marian laughed when Regina pulled out of their hug and smacked her lightly on the arm. "I'll just stick to using the front door." She said, her laughter dying down slowly and a smile remaining as she took in her surroundings. "I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed when she saw Kathryn standing near the couch, an amused smile on her lips as she watched the three of them interact. "You must be Kathryn. I'm Marian." She introduced herself with a kind smile, extending her hand to the blonde woman in greeting.

"It's nice to meet you, Marian." Kathryn told her as they shook hands. "I've heard a lot about you." She told her kindly, subtly nodding her head in Zelena's direction. She grabbed her things as well as Regina's off the couch, smiling at the three women as she started walking towards the front door. "We should probably get going." She told them as she opened the door, holding it open as they all walked through the threshold, Regina taking her purse with a grateful smile as they walked to the car.

"Marian, where's your car?" Regina asked as she looked around.

"It's uh- it's parked in the driveway... at my house." Marian admitted sheepishly.

"Marian, please... tell me that you didn't walk here last night." Zelena said exasperated.

"Relax, Zelena. I didn't walk here, not that it would've been a big deal if I did. We're in Storybrooke." Marian reminded her with a roll of her eyes, ignoring the expectant look on Zelena's face. "Robin kindly offered to drop me off here after he picked Roland up from my house last night."

It's kind of weird how amicable you are with your ex-husband." Regina said, an amused smile teasing lifting at the corner of her lips.

"Says the woman whose ex-girlfriend not only volunteered her space to be used to build another branch to her store, but who also jumped at the opportunity to renovate it for her." Marian sassed in response, grinning in satisfaction as Regina's teasing smile immediately dropped.

"Ooh... burn."

"Shut up, Zelena."

* * *

"Holy shit." Kathryn said somewhat breathlessly as her eyes immediately zoned in on the blonde-haired woman wearing a tight white tank top, a white hard hat, and a pair of blue skinny jeans that were as dangerously alluring as the pair Regina was wearing. "Zelena was right. She's fucking gorg-"

"Kathryn." Regina whispered warningly.

"I'm sorry, Reg-" Kathryn started to apologize, properly chided, only to be interrupted.

"Auntie Regina, you're here!" Roland shouted excitedly as he ran towards his brunette godmother, slowing down reluctantly as Robin and Regina reprimanded him for running. He lifted his arms in the air as he reached her, giggling happily as she lifted him and settled him on her hip. "Hi!"

"Hi." Regina greeted him warmly, kissing his cheeks carefully as to not knock down the small white hardhat he wore and laughing with him as he started squirming in her arms. "Don't you look handsome this morning." She told him as she took in his attire, smiling to herself as she realized that he wore a miniature version of Emma's work clothes, a white t-shirt instead of a tank top like his blonde godmother's.

"I'm helping!" He exclaimed as he settled his little hands on the kid-sized utility belt he wore.

"I can see that, sweet boy. Thank you." Regina said as she pressed a kiss to his cheek and gently set him on the ground. "There's someone I'd like you to meet." She told him as she nodded her head in Kathryn's direction. "Roland, this is Kathryn. She's one of my closest friends and she happens to be my personal assistant."

Roland smiled shyly at the beautiful blonde woman, extending his right hand to her to greet her like his parents and Auntie Emma had taught him. "It's nice to meet you."

Kathryn smiled at the little boy, squatting down slightly so that she was at eye-level to him as she extended her own hand out and shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Roland. I've heard a lot about you." She told him sincerely.

Roland's smile grew before turning his head to his dad who'd walked up behind him and crouched down to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Hey buddy, your Auntie Emma needs your help with something. Do you still have those screws she asked you to hold onto earlier?"

"Yes, daddy." Roland nodded, his face scrunching up in concentration as he reached into one of the pockets of his utility belt, shuffling for a moment before proudly pulling out four screws and showing them to Robin.

"Great!" Robin exclaimed. His eyes twinkling with pride as he looked at his son. "Go ahead and hand them to her, but no running... okay?"

"Okay, daddy." Roland agreed with a small sigh as he turned on his heel and walked away to where Emma was still working hard, seemingly too engrossed in her work to even realize that Regina and Kathryn had walked in.

"He looks adorable in that outfit." Regina commented once Roland was out of earshot.

"Yeah, he does." Robin agreed with a boyish grin. "He loves helping us almost as much as much as he loves wearing that utility belt. " He told them with a laugh." Emma bought it for him earlier this year. She custom ordered all of his tools so he'd actually be able to use them."

Regina felt her heart swell with love as her eyes drifted to Emma and Roland, the little boy giggling happily as his aunt picked him up, placing him on her as she showed him where the screws would be going, pointing to the screw driver in his utility belt as she explained what it was she needed him to do and how.

"Regina?" Robin asked. He'd watched in amusement as Regina taken in the heartwarming scene between his sister and son, knowing that the brunette hadn't heard a single word he'd said. "You haven't introduced us yet." He said again, gesturing between himself and Regina's personal assistant, smiling at the blonde woman.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Regina said, quickly shaking herself out of her daze as she turned to Kathryn, not missing the twinkle in the blonde's woman eyes as she shyly returned Robin's smile. Interesting. "Robin, this is Kathryn. She's my personal assistant and one of the greatest friends I've made while living in New York." She stated proudly. "Kathryn, this is Robin. He's one of my best friends and my godson's dad."

"It's lovely to meet you." Robin told Kathryn sincerely, extending his hand out to her and smiling as they shook hands.

Kathryn smiled. "You too." She said as they continued to shake hands. She turned her head slightly and saw the amusement clearly etched on Regina's features, clearing her throat she removed her hand from Robin's grasp awkwardly. "You have a beautiful son."

"Thank you. I've been told numerous times that he gets that from his mother... and my sister, apparently." Robin told her teasingly. "Where are Marian and Zelena?" He asked them.

"They're on their way." Regina told him. "I think Marian wanted to make sure that Zelena's nerves about meeting Roland didn't get to her too badly."

Robin nodded his head in understanding. "Zelena's going to do great. I know Roland is going to love her."

"Marian was trying to tell her the same thing, but you know how my sister can be." Regina said with a roll of her eyes.

"Yes, stubbornness seems to be a Mills Women dominant trait." Robin agreed. Regina smacked him in the stomach, trying and failing to keep a smile at bay as he started rubbing at the sore spot his boisterous laughter echoing in the building.

"Shut up, Robin."


End file.
